Ambrosia Studios

Charcoal

2008-04-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

A larger than life skeleton drawing done in charcoal in about 20 min. one day in my drawing problems class last year. I enjoy it so much that he hangs on the wall between my bathroom and kitchen!

Date Created: Fall 2007

Materials Used: Newsprint, charcoal

The Worker

2008-04-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Date Completed: Spring 2008
Materials Used: Charcoal, White Charcoal, White China Marker, Watered down acrylic, on raw canvas

Gray's Lake Stippling

2008-04-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

This is a mixed media piece I created as a Christmas Gift. It is a combined photograph and stippling. The process is quite simple. Step 1: take a picture Step 2: Jack contrast and brightness down in Photoshop. Step 3: Print picture on heavy weight paper. Step 4: Stipple over image using multiple colors keeping dots same distance apart from one another. The result is a unique image that will leave family and friends stunned!!

Materials Used: Sharpie Markers, Photograph on card stock

Untitled(Blue, Green, and Brown) Painting

2008-04-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

This creation is the painting I am working on in my profile picture. An Abstract fusion of brown, blue, and green. This peace is very calming to me. And looks magnificent in my bathroom! :) It is paited with acrylic on raw canvas. The washed out background was achieved by throwing water balloons at the canvas and then splattering paint with a paintbrush over it while it was still wet. It is one of my favorite pieces to date!

Date Created: Fall 2007

Materials Used: Acrylics, Waterballoons, paintbrushes

Stab-binding

2008-04-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

My first crack at making a book. This was the first assignment of the semester, and I started it off with a bang using fancy papers and thread that made the rest of the class jealous :) Juuuust kidding. Little did I know that this simple structured book would open an entire new world for my creative juices.

Materials Used: assorted rice papers, card stock, pva glue

Self-Portrait Jornal (accordian book)

2008-04-23T13:29:00.002-07:00

This is one of the books I created for my bookbinding final. This semester I have begun to mold all of my different media into very unique pieces of artwork. The drawing used on the spine of this book is actually a self-portrait charcoal drawing that I completed in my drawing class. I have always wanted a very personal journal...and what a better way to personalize something than with a self drawn picture!

Materials Used: Binders Board, charcoal drawing, papirus paper, hand-marbled japanese paper, hand-made reversable paper, pva glue

Sam's Pretty in pink book

2008-04-23T13:29:00.001-07:00

Made from scrapbooking materials, this stab-binding is now in the possession of my roomie. She has a fasination for pink and scrapbooking papers are a great cheaper way to cover books! Although when I can afford them I prefer the rice papers (but what starving artist has the funds to always work with the best of the best materials ;P)

Materials Used: assorted scrapbooking papers, embelishments, pva glue

Long-Stitch paperback

2008-04-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

My first long-stitch book. I loved the texture bubbles that were on this orange paper. it makes such a great cover! I fell in love with this stitch and have used it multiple times on other works. It is simple and you can create some really neat designs with variations of the stitching.

Materials Used: textered paper, thread, cardstock

Traditional Codex

2008-04-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

Your very basic book. This is the format that all hard back bound books use. Quite frankly...its a pain in the neck. Papers wrinkle easily and if you dont use a heavy enough paper for the inside pages...they will rinkle when you glue them down (the front and back pages of the signatures are used as the end papers) There are to many other fantastic forms out there to use this one often. Besides we see this format on a daily basis..I want to focus more on what is unique :)

Materials Used: assorted rice paper, card stock, thread, reinforcing fabric, book tape, pva glue

Long-stitch Hardback

2008-04-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

My personal variation of the long-stitch. Using Mat board created a sturdy cover and spine allowing the stitch to be tighter and in general holds the book together much more successfully. Many students in my class struggles with not having a heavy enough weight of paper...and you cannot use rice paper on the original construction. My invention allows me to continue to play with color combos and not have to deal with ripping paper and ruining hours of work!

Materials Used: Mat board, textured paper, assorted rice paper, card stock, linen thread, pva glue

Coptic

2008-04-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

A very rewarding stitch. It is one of the most difficult stitches to master but the results are extraordinary. It is a braided stitch, one of the strongest stitches. Another unique aspect of this book is that you can use plain binders board. You don't have to cover them with fancy papers, you can paint or draw on them and just sew them onto the book. Of course I chose to cover the book instead. Its hard to break bad habits! :D

Materials Used: Binders Board, Hand-Marbled Japanese paper, Cork paper, Cover stock, linen thread(non-waxed)

Trinkets and Trash

2008-04-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

My first stab at an altered book. This was the other book I created for my final in bookbinding. I am not one to have amazing conceptual ideas behind my pieces, especially my books. I like knowing that someday maybe someone will purchase one of my blank books and make it their own. I love the idea of sparking creativity through my own makings. This was a HUGE step outside the box for me. It took me about 2 weeks to figure out what I wanted my altered book to be about. All my life I have collected small trinkets, whether they be from friends, family, or just random things I have found and held onto. I gutted out this book and packed it full of a small sampling of these things, then I put a gloss gel medium coating of brown over the entire book and plastered the cover and back with images I drew in highschool when I was bored. I think it is successful and it is a unique way of displaying trinkets and trash! I hope to create more of these in the future, for my own personal enjoyment :)

Materials Used: Book from Goodwill, pva glue, sampling of trinkets and trash, old drawings(all ink pen)

Accordion Book

2008-04-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at the accordion book (before the self-portrait book) I followed the book instructions to a T and found that sometimes it is better to rely on instinct, rather than instructions. This book can be tricky, you have to space the spine pieces enough to allow them to bend back and forth, the instructions failed to provide enough space and I actually broke each and every one of the seams along the spine...it was painful to listen to the paper rip and i worked in the creases. But then with a bit of TLC I was able to repair them and the spine is fairly strong despite its close call to failure.

2008-04-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

2008-04-14T09:01:00.002-07:00

2008-04-14T09:01:00.001-07:00

2008-04-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Butterfly

2008-04-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

2008-03-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Flagbook created as a final project for bookbinding. The concept is the fight between Glinda (the good which) and Elphaba (the wicked witch of the west) and their struggle over the Ruby slippers.

2008-03-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

This is a piece that I completed in three hours. It is done with watered down acrylics and chalk pastels. It was neat how easily it all blended together, and I really like the final outcome of having some portions more completed (such as the face) and having others very loose (the shirt and lower half of the body).