Hello Carolyn Herring Studio

 Happy New Year! Wishing all the best for you and yours. 

After time at the Quiet House at H-E-B Foundation Camp away from our busy day to day routine, Joe and I  spent time focusing on us together and ourselves separately. One powerful question he asked is what should you let go of? What no longer serves you? Usually we add a New Year’s Resolution, but I love the idea of jettisoning some part of my busyness that is only habit. 

After much thought I decided to let go of stamp design and focus on mixed media art and supplies for two reasons. First I don’t have enough room to store a lot of products and I spend most of my creative time painting. Hence the name change.  You will still be able to find Pink Bunkadoo on YouTube, but the Etsy shop is closed and the Studio Shop is almost ready for visitors. My Instagram handle is @carolyn_herring_studio  

A view from the doorway of the Quiet House 

Circle Bluff

Neighbors 

I joined Wanderlust and Care December offered by Kasia Avery’s Everything Art UK.  Both are a joy. Kasia had the idea years ago to focus on a word instead of a resolution so for Day 1 of Care December I created this spread with the idea of shedding what is no longer useful or propelling you in your desired direction. 

There’s an abstract snake in the background because they shed old useless skin regularly to grow. That’s me. Growing. 

Cheers,

Carolyn 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4391382083873539416/7615170796010490608

Here’s an old Pink Bunkadoo video for fun. 

Pink Bunkadoo changes to Carolyn Herring Studio next month

 Hi y’all,

To find out how little control you have over the direction your life takes announce your plans publicly. That’s just what I did and then we spent the rest of the year dealing with hard things or watching someone we cherish deal with hard things. Of course all plans froze in place, including the intention to write a monthly blog.

Procreate illustration while recovering from an illness 

During this time we grabbed some moments to regroup and consider what we were doing. One of the questions Joe asked me was if there was anything I need to shed. That question has lodged in my thoughts. Fellow teachers used to joke that we never lost any tasks as a teacher, but just added new ones. Perhaps we should shed skills, tasks, jobs that no longer serve our life. We aren’t statues. We are constantly reinventing ourselves. 

Wildly enough I decided to shed Pink Bunkadoo and closed my Etsy shop.  New regulations were always required and I wanted something simpler, something that reflected my art and shared products that I love. When I have Carolyn Herring Studio shop up and running, I’ll post it here. Meanwhile you can spy my artsy shenanigans on Instagram @carolyn_herring_studio

The thought of shedding or sloughing the unnecessary inspired this art journal page from Kasia Avery’s meditative  Care December which I’m beginning today. It’s very worth my time. She shared the idea of a word to inform your thoughts and actions instead of resolutions which are usually forgotten. My first year participating in Care December I chose the word generosity which was a joyful word. This year my word is shed—paring  habits and activities that don’t serve my artistic journey.  I’ll share that art piece next week. 

I’m also just beginning the Arteza Fine Art Advent calendar. The projects have a wee tutorial that gives you the basic steps. The bees I painted were adorable. There are bees on so many things now because it’s too hard to stop. Painting on the walls has never been more tempting. If you’re curious,Amazon  has the calendar on sale if you’re curious. 

Practicing bees from Arteza’s Advent Calendar 

Arteza has a Craft and Illustrator Advent Calendar as well as the luscious Fine Art Advent Calendar 

As Pink Bunkadoo changes into Carolyn Herring Studio, there will have a few stamps and stamp sets on sale until they are gone. It takes up a lot of space to store products so instead of stamps, you can expect to find art, journals, and art papers in the future as well as whatever my art growth discovers. The Pink Bunkadoo YouTube channel will still exist, but the links will be unavailable. 

Shed may not express your journey, but I can’t help but wonder which word you’ll choose. Feel free to share in the comments and any art your word inspired. 

Cheers to your own metamorphosis!

Best dreams and wishes,

Carolyn

Quote: You have shed a thousand skins to become the person you are today.  -Nikita Gill

Updated Art Travel Kit

Hi Y'all, 

 I'm a homebody married to a travel buff who I appreciate for expanding my horizons. and taking me on adventures.    Our next month's trip Lottie is coming camping with us, and I'm hoping she loves it as much as we do. We usually eat breakfast, go for a hike, and then chill by reading a book, playing a game, or creating in my case.  Whenever I leave home, I can't take all of my art toys, but I bring my most versatile ones.  Let me show you my creative kit.

Lottie checking out the camper.

Joe bought a cool canvas box for portable pencils, markers and other tools. It is for sure coming with me.  I don't know where he found this.

canvas tool box

Inside you can find a couple of Stabilo All pencil, #2 pencil, tiny water bottle, glue stick,  an inexpensive plastic pencil sharpener that a child might use in school, black gel pen, and a white Posca marker.  And of course small scissors.

canvas pouch

I carry a second canvas bag for my watercolors or other water soluable medium.  These Jane Davenport watercolor tins are perfect for travel.  Some collage bits can be useful as well.  The canvas bag came from the now closed Tuesday Morning.  Spellbinders carries Jane Davenport supplies which are always beautiful and whimsical.

Travel Journal

I buy cute notebook from a stationer's shop.  My favorite one is in Austin, TX USA, and is called Paper Place.  If you are in the area, it's worth looking into. They also have a website you can look at here:  Paper Place.

As you can see in the above photo, I journal and create to help keep those travel memories alive.  Inside

I might glue a ticket or a post card.  On holiday I don't make myself create every day.  But it is there availabe to me, and I find myself picking it up often.

Artist quote of the month: "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to." - J. R. R. Tolkein

Bon voyage,

Carolyn

You can find me on Instagram @carolyn_herring_studio or on Etsy by clicking here.

Favorite Places Across the Internet

 Hi y'all,

I normally have a how-to tutorial with a healthy dose of art philosphy, but last month was challenging for me.  I got Covid for the first time three weeks ago, and I'm still struggling with symptoms.  Apparently it's hard for some people.  Because of this I thought I'd share my favorite internet artists in case you can't make it to your art space once day.

Hands down the best art newsletter is by Jeanne Oliver.  She shares what is currently inspiring her with links to books, videos, and great things to read.  You can find her site here: jeanneoliver Right now she has a sale on the many classes she offers by herself and other artist.  I imagine you'll find something there that you like.

Jeanne Oliver

A stunning Instagram story to follow is @paperhazell.  She is a Scottish artist and bookbinder of great skill who lives by the ocean and chooses to swim in that gorgeous ocean almost every day.  She posts a photo of her outdoor changing room almost every day.  You can expect to stunning ocean shot.  

She's even created a book called Todays Changing Room by Rachell Hazell and I really appreciate her newsletter as well.  There is usually a nice little book skill in every newsletter. You can find more about Rachell here: thetravellingbookbinder

Rachell Hazell

If you love art journallling as much as I do, I recommend signing up to be a supporter for Art of Dina Wakley.  Signing up to be a supporter is just $5 a month which comes with near weekly classes, free online classes and free other materials.  The supporters are a friendly bunch. Dina is warm, open and funny and happy to answer any questions which you can do in the supporter live videos. Dina is a well know designer of art journalling materials for Ranger Ink.  Ranger Ink is an American Company of art and craft supplies of excellent quality.  You can find her on Facebook as Art of Dina Wakely.  Here's where you can find out more about her: ponderings

Dina Wakley

Please share your favorite places on the internet.  I'd love to know.

Stay healthy,

Carolyn

You can find me on Instagram @carolyn_herring_studio or on Etsy by clicking here.

Art Practice

 Hi y'all,

I don't push myself to paint every single day because that is unreasonable.  You won't find my in my studio on Christmas Day, days that I'm drowning in tasks, or if I have a migraine or on an adventure with Joe.  That being said I'm in my studio almost every day. Just ten minutes of gluing stuff I find on my desk into a collage restores my artist soul.  

It takes roughly 200 hours to drastically improve your skill in any field according to many sources on the internet.  That sounds like a lot.  One thing I do to get art practice in my schedule is set time aside every week just for that.  My family knows that on Wednesday afternoon I paint.  You might not have a whole afternoon, but maybe you can find your 15 minutes in your week to do a little bit of art.  

Here are a few things that can be accomplished in 15 minutes:

1.  Gesso your art journal spread or pages.

2.  Make marks on a variety of papers (book pages, copy paper, junk mail.

3. Spray ink on your papers through a stencil.

4. Glue odds and ends togeter for a collage.

5. Put a few strokes of your favorite color paint across your papers.

If you can do this when you're busy, when you do get a time to create you'll have a lot to start with.

Below is an art journal flip through of my art practice.

And for fun--here's my latest painting.  It took a surprising whimsical turn.

Practice doesn't make perfect, but it certainly makes growth.

Artist quote of the month:  "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."--Anais Nin

Here's to your growth!

Warmly,

Carolyn

You can find me on Instagram @carolyn_herring_studio or on Etsy by clicking here.

Making a Vertical Collage

 

Hi y'all,

Before I share how to make vertical collages, I'd like to introduce Henry our new kitty.

We found him after Thanksgiving behind our downtown shop--a tiny starving thing.  My son fed him and acclimated him to people, and then I took him home.  

It isn't easy adopting a feral cat.  He was a bit rough sometime and tried to eat your dinner for you, but now he's enjoying the life of a house cat.  We thought he was a kitten, but he's full grown and and no longer undernourished.

Now let's get back to those vertical collages which are great for beginners.  A vertical collage has pieces running vertically or top to bottom instead of side to side.  I believe that vertical collages look better if they have an odd numer of pieces.  The one above has 5 background pieces plus two focal point pieces which gives you seven pieces in all.  So consider every element you lay down for your collage.  If something looks off count the pieces.  Chances are you have an even number of things and need to add one more.

I like to choose a few colors and perhaps and marker or two and paint my own paper for tearing or cutting into collage papers.  A gelli print is also excellent for these types of collages.  You can read about how I do that here. Mother boards

As for focal points some of my favorites are stamps colored with dampened Dina Wakley Media Scribble Stick likr the moth below..  Black inked stamp impressions would be great.  Words cut from a magazine or handwritten finish a collage nicely. I like digging through odds and ends to see what I can find.  I used an old key once.

You can watch the basic process here.

Vertical Collages

Here are a few more examples that are a bit more complicated:

I save my coolest scraps in a box so vertical collages come together easily.   I love making these, and I hope you try.

Warmly,

Carolyn

I don't use sponsor links for products, but if you are curious about any supplies I've used I'll share where they came from.

My art quote of the month--"Everything is hard before it is easy." Goethe

You can find me on Instagram @carolyn_herring_studio or on Etsy by clicking here.