simply me

donna downey studios - NEW SPACE!

we have been working hard getting the new studio painted and primped just the way we want it (ok, maybe the way i want it, lol). the new space is HUGE, BRIGHT and PERFECT!

let me take you on a little photo tour and tell you about my new happy space!

when you walk in (through the newly turquoise door) to the new studio, on your right is the shop and all of its art and mixed-media goodness.

this is one of my favorite little happy places in the shop...it warranted a shout out :)

to the left and beyond a half wall separating the 2 rooms is the ENORMOUS classroom.

that door in the back of the room leads to a kitchen (YES A KITCHEN!) perfect for our inspired events and serving up Grandma Cookie's homemade delights!

and off the kitchen there is another room we are calling "jenny's room" it has all of our class kit supplies and she makes all of our kits (i forgot to take a pic, lol)

LOOK AT THE LIGHT in these rooms from the big floor to ceiling windows!!!

i cannot express just how perfect this space is for all i want to do!

and if that werent already enough, then there is the gallery!

a long wrap around hallway that i intend to fill with my original art. (i am opting to see the fire extinguisher as an art installation)

the 2 brown doors with the poppies are the bathrooms (i have really awesome plans for those but they are not ready yet)

here is my latest piece that i just added to the wall.

that brown door to the right is one of 2 entrances to the "warehouse" (the other door open in from the shop side by the checkout), this is where the "business" side of the studio happens...stock, shipping, office, etc.

this is the view from across the street, see that awning to the far right of the photo? that was were we moved from.

still a lot of little details to work on including altering that green round awning over the door.  i want to sew several different coordinated outdoor fabrics in a patchwork style to it and then put it back up.

i would also like to paint artwork on the 2 large rectangular empty panels to the left and right of the sign. have to convince my landlord first though, lol!

hope to see you in the studio soon! can you say, "ROAD TRIP!!"

i would love to see you at one of our studio classes, events and/or art crawls we have scheduled in the next few months!

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collage monday

this weeks collage monday began with layering my favorite "hole-y" joint tape on the background. then just started throwing splotches of Hydrus watercolors on it and spritzing them until they splayed across the page.
...cool thing the Hydrus really helped in emphasizing the holes, love it!
painted the heart with pyrrole red acrylic paint and with a precision tip bottle and a mixture neutral grey acrylic paint + water, i outlined the heart.
i even used up some old rub-ons (i think they were daisy d's & luxe). added a couple of tapes, some number stickers and a tag to finish it off!

so far i am really liking the bigger format...more room to play!

MY NEW STENCILS ARE HERE!!!

so flippin' excited!!
my new stencil release comes in both 12 x 12 and 6 x 6

they are super durable and made of really nice flexible, but sturdy plastic for making lots of messy art

and they are in the shop NOW!

my 2 new albums also arrived

my new MINI inspiration journal on the left has a sewn signature of different really cool style pages

and the canvas coffee cup book is AWE-SOME!!

if you take photos of yourself and your starbucks cup (like me, hee hee!)

this is a must have!

LOVE ME SOME COFFEE!

HAPPY PLACE!!

{P.S. look for a blog post tuesday with some new studio pictures!}

art in progress...

just a little in progress sneak peek of the big (60 x 40") canvas i have been working on.

lots to do today, hoping to cross a few things off my "list" of things to do.

still a few things to cross off the to do list at the NEW studio too. but i promise photos are coming soon!

inspiration wednesday + video

i was feeling uninspired this morning but somehow just by creating (i totally believe in forward motion) i was able to pull out an inspiration wednesday i am proud of! heres to perserverance!

supplies used this week:

• inspiration journal
• GOLDEN regular gel medium
• NEW "holes" mini paper tags
• GOLDEN titanium white airbrush paint
• GOLDEN fluid acrylic paint 
  
  • cobalt teal
  • green gold
  • quinacridone magenta
  • vat orange
  • hansa yellow light
  • indian yellow hue
  • carbon black
• GOLDEN neutral gray heavy body acrylic
• white airbrush paint
• foam stamp - stem
• liquitex gesso WHITE
• needle tip applicator bottles
• Dr Martins bombay golden yellow india ink
• 1" flat wash brush - favorite paint brush
• plastic paint palettes
• date stamp
• stazon

link to gandhi top 10

feels good to be painting again...

yesterday i was just feeling really burnt out...i havent really touched paint to canvas in so long i missed it. so last night i began painting. i wish i would have taken the before picture, but both of theses canvases were re-purposed over art i hadnt felt motivated to complete for years.
this one i actually used purple and yellow??? and i am loving how it is shaping up, but it is still in progress.

i think i am going to start on this one NOW! it is HUGE! 60 x 40" it wont even fit in my space! i might try to record it...we'll see? but now i have to go get messy! i will keep you posted!

collage monday...{begining a NEW journal today}

starting in a brand new A4 Moleskine journal today (A4 books measure 8-1/4" x 11-3/4") and it is quite a bit larger than the original moleskine journal i was previously working in...thought i would try something new!

the paper background was actually a piece of the table covering from my last Inspired weekend event with dina wakley. it was just too pretty to throw away, lol!

i added the quote with alphabet stickers i picked up at my local hardware store in the mailboxes aisle and the orange and yellow india ink drips and splotches to frame the quote.

i have already started playing in the following pages...basically just adding found papers and stuff to the backgrounds...but i can already tell when this book is finished it is going to be fat and chunky with lots of colorful pages.

dont cha just love this quote?!! repeat it 3 times to yourself in the mirror and it is just empowering!

internationally INSPIRED event Q & A

hi everyone!

i know i haven't been blogging as regularly lately...but  just give me till this weekend and i promise i will be back at it again.

the good news is, i have been the "good-kind" of busy...launching a new website, moving into the NEW STUDIO this weekend and i have just come back from CHA and the release of my new product line (which should be shipping in a couple weeks)

in addition we also launched my NEW EVENT series internationally inspired before heading out to CHA and i have gotten a lot of questions about the new workshop and i thought if a few of you emailing me had questions most likely many of you are wondering the same things...

so i thought a little Q & A would be...FUN!

i will start with the ones i have gotten and then feel free to add any ones i haven't addressed in the comments.

here goes...

Q - when does the workshop start?

A - immediately, registration is open and you can sign up right now. Just like all of my online classes, internationally INSPIRED workshop is completely downloadable & self paced. this video workshop includes a 1.5-2 hour video from each of the 5 of the featured artists, project photos and full supply lists.

Q - how long will the classroom/workshops be accessible?

A - this is a 2 part answer. technically we plan to allow access to the classroom for the next 6 months. in the virtual classroom we will offer a streaming video option so that you can watch the video just by accessing the classroom alone. HOWEVER, we are also providing a link to allow the students to download each of teachers individual videos to their computers directly, therefore, making the video yours and available to watch FOREVER. so that said you could download all 5 videos to your computer, watch them anytime and they NEVER EXPIRE.

Q - how do i gain access to the classroom?

A - after purchasing the workshop you will immediately be emailed the link to download the workshop pdf. the pdf contains your unique link access to the classroom.

Q - i can only see donna's video, how do i access the other artists videos?

A - because i am the first artist listed, my video appears on the classroom landing page first. you can access each artists video, supplies list, bio, email and video download by simply clicking on each artists icon photo. (see image below of classroom and artist icon links)

Q - i can only see half the video when i push play and i cannot stop or pause the video once i push play. what am i doing wrong?

A - no worries, just use the scroll bar to the right side of the classroom page to scroll down a bit so that the whole video is on your screen. the large video image will appear partially below your viewing space when you enter the classroom. once you scroll down you will be able to view the whole video and the play/stop/pause button at the bottom left. (see image below)

Q - how do i download the video?

A - to the bottom right of each artist video you will see an orange download link, simply click the link and download to your computer and it is yours FOREVER! (see above photo)

Q - the workshop states there is a supplies list for each artist's workshop, are there more supplies used than just whats in the kit?

A - yes. each artist was sent the same core kit of supplies (see here **KITS have sold out but you can still purchase each individual product here) and were asked to use every item in the kit in some way in their project. However, they were not limited to the supplies in the kit...meaning they were allowed to use any other products they wanted in addition to the kit supplies and that list of additional products is included also as a downloadable link below the video.

Q - do i need to buy the kit to take the workshop?

A - absolutely not. the workshop can stand alone and is FILLED with dozens of cool techniques, product tricks and innovative & creative ideas from a hand-picked group of incredibly talented artists. Apply the techniques to the products in your own personal stash, create your own book or buy the kit and make one along side the artists, the choice is up to you.

Q - can i pick and choose products from the kit i would like to buy? can i buy multiples of certain products?

 A - yes. we have made the kit available to make it easy for those that wanted to "one-stop-shop", however, we sell all the products in the kit in our shop on our website and you can pick and choose the quantity and the individual products you would like to use.

here's a little video intro about the workshop...

  

your not going to want to miss creating along side these incredible artists and wealth of techniques and insight shared in this workshop...

sign up today!

collage monday - 1 year later

54 weeks, 1 years worth of visual entries documenting the colorful journey of my life.

when i decided to start this journal i wanted it to be something i could do on the fly, no prep, no video edits, just a book to put the scraps of my creative life. most of the pages took no more than an hour to create...some as little as 10 minutes.

i thought it might be fun to take a look back at my TOP 10 personal favorites.

in chronological order...

7.4.11 the city map through the paper shredder was a great aha moment

8.22.11 the simplicity of this collage made me happy as well as finally using my large sheets of paper for something

10.17.11 i probably dont even need to explain why this one made my highlight list

12.5.11 i think again this one makes the list for its simplicity

1.16.12 for both message and color it made a bold statement for the new year

2.13.12 not for overall design, but concept wise i found i really liked using up those letter stickers to collage with

4.2.12 everytime i see this page i get that, "i made that!!" feeling inside...just make me all around happy!

4.23.12 love the grunge, colors and the fact that everything on this page was added from the trash and paints left over on my table from the projects before it.

5.28.12 this one makes the list because of the ugly twists and turns it took to get here. when i was done i just was so happy i stuck with it and love the result

6.26.12 all the shape and texture going on absolutely excites me, but most of all it makes the list because i found through this page that i love working with grey paint.

take a look back through all 54 weeks

Next week i will start in a new collage monday journal and  i would love it if you joined along on the journey with me! heres to another year!

sign-up for my NEW internationally inspired online event and start creating today!!

sign up NOW!

"CANVAS CREATE" series - JULY canvas

build 3-dimensional effects off of a stretched canvas base as i take the design WAY outside the box this month in my NEW CANVAS CREATE WORKSHOP!

watch step-by-step as this blank canvas is transformed using layered collage, watch step-by-step and create bold layers and learn new techniques in this months CANVAS CREATE workshop.

techniques explored we will be...

• layered collage
• building dimension using stencils and pastes
• forming paper mache from cardstock
• using the wooden canvas frame as a building block for your design
• and so much more...

  don't miss out on JULY's canvas art lesson!

  watch the video now

download this month's supplies list

 

 

if you missed out on previous months canvas workshops you can download them here...