Spray paint canvas

I have a rather large tub of spray paints and really don't want to deal with them when we move in the summer, so I thought I'd spray paint some fabric for backgrounds.

Here is my box of paints. I bought a new respirator (top left) for another stinky project and figured I'd use it while spray painting. It worked great, I couldn't smell a thing.

I washed and ironed my fabric before painting.  Wrinkles can wreak havoc when using spray products.

After doing some base painting, I added patterns with stencils, a plastic doily, a sink mat, etc.  I would spray through it, then flip the stencil over and smoosh it onto the fabric in a different spot.

Here is my finished fabric. It looks too 80's to me, but I plan to add some more "something" to it. Since these are enamel paints (or whatever they are) I can't really use acrylics with it. I am thinking of collaging some gelli printed deli paper on it, or maybe add patterns with Shiva paintsticks.

Detail

Detail

I also did a golden yellow fabric, but it looked like dog meat so I am not bothering to post pictures. I only used up three cans of paint, so I need to think up some other spray paint projects!

Treasures from my recent trip

From a gift shop at the Old Town Plaza in Albuquerque. Cute nichos. I am going to take apart the one on the left to make three separate ones.

I found nothing exciting in Arizona, and I looked hard. Since we only went to the Grand Canyon, there weren't a lot of shopping options.

From Black Sheep in Encinitas, CA, lovely hand-dyed wool roving. I thought it looked like a sunset. I typically don't buy a lot of hand dyed roving since it's expensive and I can dye my own, but on vacation I tend to splurge a little.

Then I went to the Mother of all Flea Markets, the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena, CA. This place was huge. We were there two hours, in order to cover more ground I didn't poke around in every booth (my usual flea market style) and I still think we only saw a quarter of it. It wasn't cheap but it had some awesome things.Go early, by 11am the line of cars waiting to park went on forever.

I have no idea why I love this tabletop pinball game, but I do. It makes me happy. It has two long nuts/bolts at the top so it will sit at an angle on a table and allow the game to be played, but I am going to take the bolts off and just hang it on the wall as art. I offered 33% less than the asking price and they didn't even haggle with me and took my offer.

Red zigzag scarf (they said it was silk), green patterned silk scarf, white and black lace, $2 each. Hand embroidered curtain (maybe 30"x30") with flowers and birds, $3.

 This little speedometer was the first thing I bought at the flea market, I thought it would be good in an assemblage. The wood block was marked $9 but he sold it to me for $7 and I didn't even ask for a lower price.  This block would be $15 to $20 in Denver.  I will be trying it out in the next few days.

We stopped at the store Art Heaven, in Grand Junction, CO on the way home. I bought some Transparent Setacolor paints since no stores in Denver carry it and I always have to order it online. I also bought some light Lutradur (not pictured) and some belt buckles. I want to make some felted belts. Art Heaven has a 10% discount for out of town visitors (yay!). Also pictured, but bought elsewhere, Jacquard silk salt (from Black Sheep, Encinitas) and gold aluminum foil (used to make a decorative swan for my leftovers at a California restaurant- my food was first wrapped in regular foil, so this foil was clean, but smells a bit like chocolate cake!)

Road trip, Zion Part 2 and Bryce Canyon

 We did a bit of walking in Zion in the morning before heading to Bryce Canyon.

We saw these deer locking horns but they didn't seem to serious about it. The path was about 10 feet higher than the riverbank they were on, so we had a great view.

Then we headed over to Bryce Canyon. There is a lot of snow and ice on the ground here in winter, so we couldn't really hike into the canyon. Last time I visited 15 plus years ago, it was summer and the view of the rock formations from the valley floor was really awesome. I was kind of bummed.

We were here for sunset, but sunrises are better since the valley faces east.  

 

Moonrise over Bryce Canyon.

If you ever travel in Utah in the winter, I recommend checking that the restaurant and/or hotel you are thinking about going to is open.  In the smaller towns (like the town at the entry to Zion and smaller towns around these parks), a lot of places shut down in the winter since there aren't many tourists this time of year. Also, cell phone reception is almost non-existent for long stretches and gas stations are few and far between. It's a good thing I brought paper maps.

Road Trip, Zion Part 1

 Beautiful afternoon in Zion.

Moonrise

Road Trip, LA

Sunset off the Pacific Hwy

At the LA County Museum (LACM). This museum was very nice with a wide range of art.

Also at LACM, a house made from movie film. I found it interesting how the film semi-concealed the people in the inside.

My super favorite stop, the Rose Bowl Flea Market. I picked up a couple things and will add a picture later on.

Road Trip, elephants at the Safari park and sunset in La Jolla

Safari Park in San Diego

La Jolla

Road Trip, Joshua Tree National Park

It was reasonably warm in Joshua Tree National Park, except the Keys Overlook where it was super windy.

Lots of Joshua Trees.

Cholla cactus in the Cholla Garden.

Road trip, Grand Canyon

My husband and I are taking a long road trip for about two weeks. We left Denver on Friday, stopped in Albuquerque, then drove to the Grand Canyon.

The next morning, we got up at 6am to get to the park for sunrise. It was a bit cold, but not too bad.

We will be in San Diego and LA in the next few days, so if anyone knows any good art/craft/fiber stores, let me know!