Orange Spiral Arts

New Art for the Holidays and Other Updates

Greetings, Everyone,

I hope you are well and finding some peace and calm in the midst of your days.

I have been busy making art to sell in my OrangeSpiralArts Etsy shop! 

This is a new push for me, and so far, I am pleased with the response.

I created a series of Angel paintings. I have sold 3 of the 6.

Here are the ones that are remaining at the time of this writing.

From left to right:

Angel of Faith 

Angel of Forgiveness

Angel of Reason (SOLD)

Angel of Serenity

I also am working on a series of pinwheel collage art ornaments.

I have 8 Pinwheel Heart Ornaments available, and 4 more smaller ones in the works.

If you are subscriber to the Orange Spiral Arts newsletter, you have an email waiting for you with a discount code for FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING Friday, Dec. 10-Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021.

(Look for my photo at the bottom or sidebar of this page and the words "Subscribe to our mailing list" to get yourself subscribed).

Another fun project I have been working on is making zines for the MN Visual Journal Collective 2021 zine swap.

I had a few extras, so I may list those in my OrangeSpiralArts Etsy shop soon.

On top of preparing art to sell, I have also been participating in the art challenge called CarveDecember. It's hosted by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. The idea is to carve a stamp a day for the month of December. There are prompts, but I do my own thing.

Last, but not least, I will be offering more Live Zoom Art Play Dates and Learning Sessions in 2022. This fall and winter of 2021, we've been meeting on Tuesdays at 11am CST. If you have additional times and days of the week to suggest, I am all ears! I am deep in the planning stages of 2022 right now. 

 

 

 

Small Business Saturday 2021-Thank You Discount

Thank you to all previous, current, and future customers! I have almost everything in my OrangeSpiralArts Etsy shop for 25 % off, Nov. 27-28, 2021.

Thank you for shopping small this holiday season!

I appreciate your support and business so much!

Take good care out there! 

With Love,

Briana of Orange Spiral Arts

 

Amazing Art Sale Happening on Sunday, August 15, 2021

Hi All,

I am releasing 70 original works of art in my OrangeSpiralArts Etsy shop.

 

The big reveal happens early Sunday, August 15, 2021, about 5am CST.

Tell your friends! Come take a look to see if anything sings to your soul.

I would be so grateful and honored to have my original art belong to you!

Sending blessings your way!

-Briana of Orange Spiral Arts

Little Handmade Watercolor Journal Flip Through Video

Hello, hello, to wonderful you!

I hope you are safe, and doing well.

I've got a journal flip video to share with you today.

I just recently finished this little watercolor journal, handmade by Emily of Fineberg Art Studio.

I hope you gain some inspiration from this wee little video.

I am really into watercolor, gouache, and ink lately. How about you? What are your go to supplies these days?

Let me know in the comments of this post, or reply via email.

I am working on some new offerings, which will likely be related to the above listed supplies. I am excited about this!!!! With Distance Learning this past year for my son, my time to create videos for online classes has been slim.

I am also thinking about offering some Live Zoom sessions. You can think of them as adult play dates with art supplies, or hangouts, or simply time to connect with other people!

If you'd like to keep informed about upcoming classes and events, be sure to sign up for the Orange Spiral Arts newsletter. On the sidebar of my site, look for my smiling face and enter your email address in the box! Thanks so much for your interest!

Thank you for being here.

You and your creativity matter!

-Briana of Orange Spiral Arts

 

2020 Handmade Holidays Buyer's Guide

Greetings, Everyone!

Some of you may know that I co-facilitate a monthly visual journaling group here in Minnesota, USA. 

Below is information on how to support members of our group this holiday season. Thanks so much for considering to support our small businesses. 

Kind Regards,

Briana of Orange Spiral Arts

 

 

Welcome to the 2020 Handmade Holiday Buyer’s Guide!

2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenges, unfathomable circumstances and, at times, surreal situations. But, during this difficult time as we have been forced to keep our distance from each other, we have overcome the obstacles, called upon our creativity and found new ways to come together. And the members of the MN Visual Journal Collective are no exception.

Formed over 10 years ago by founder Roz Stendahl, the MN Visual Journal Collective has met monthly in person to share art journaling ideas, creative inspiration, supplies and support. When the country shut down this spring, those in-person meetings were put on hold, but the group’s creativity and love for each other were not. Meetings shifted to Zoom, sharing of ideas and support were posted to Facebook and the group has kept in touch through a monthly postcard project.

Many of the artists in this group have been struggling to find ways to support their artistic businesses in a world that has been forced to move to a virtual marketplace. But one thing we have never struggled to do is come together in support of each other. In 2019, members Molly Anthony and Jenny Maroney created this buyer’s guide as a way to showcase
the work of their collective artistic communities worldwide. But this year, they knew it had a much larger purpose much closer to home. This year, the Handmade Holiday Buyer’s Guide features only the work of local Minnesota artists who are members of the MN Visual Journal Collective. Instead of simply making a list of these artists, we wanted to build a guide that would showcase their amazing work and also provide all the ways
to connect with each artist so that you can both share and purchase
their work.

When you purchase from these artists, you aren’t just receiving beautiful handmade items delivered with love, you are also supporting an independent artist, making dreams come true and are making someone do a happy dance – seriously, you may not see them, but a happy dance comes with each purchase! We hope you enjoy the Handmade holiday Buyer’s Guide and we all thank you from the bottom of our hearts for buying handmade this holiday season!

Molly & Jenny and the members of the MN Visual Journal Collective

2020 Handmade Holiday Buyer's Guide download

Download 2020 Handmade Holiday Gift Guide Final

Watercolor Wednesday-Abstract Watercolor Stripes-Video

Greetings to you!

It's Watercolor Wednesday here on Orange Spiral Arts.

I thought I might just do one video a week, but as it turns out, I have been making several more.

Today is the fourth video, and it's called Abstract Watercolor 4.

I hope you enjoy a minute of silence and colorful art inspiration.

The watercolor you see in my palette is a mix of Prima Marketing watercolors, Jane Davenport watercolors, and handmade watercolors. The handmade watercolors are by the following people on Etsy: Rusee, RivervaleWatercolor, and JazperStardust.

Thank you for supporting independent artists and small businesses!

May you be safe and well.

March 2020 MN Visual Journal Collective Meeting Summary-Stitching in Your Journal with Molly Anthony

Greetings Everyone!

The March 16, 2020 MN Visual Journal Collective meeting was not in person this month, due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, Molly Anthony of The Found Art Walk and Briana of Orange Spiral Arts, showed up to Wet Paint to record a Facebook Live. This was a first for us. We got some help from Chris at Wet Paint, too. Thank you, Chris! 

The video is saved in the MN Visual Journal Collective Facebook group for members to watch, in case you missed the Live session, or if you want to watch it again for ideas and inspiration.

Molly did such a fantastic job preparing for the meeting. She is an amazing writer and human, who is going through a family crisis at the moment, and still showed up to present and share her incredible journals. Art is a balm for the soul. Molly knows this first hand, as I am sure many of you do, as well.

If you are not a member of the MN Visual Journal Collective, or if you'd like to read about our meeting, this blog post is for you. It's a summary of what Molly shared on the topic of stitching in your journal.

I tried my best to take notes, while also moderating comments on the Facebook Live video stream.

First let me share some photos of Molly's art and some book resources with you.

Artwork and journals by Molly Anthony (above)

Stitching resource book suggestions by Molly Anthony

Next, I would like to share some of the main points from Molly's talk about stitching.

What to Use

• discarded fabric, old clothes, quilts or quilt pieces, vintage fabric, lace, flower sacks, dryer sheets, dried tea bags

(Find these at thrift stores, Art Scraps in St. Paul, MN, your own attic or family members' stash, or ask friends to collect fabrics for you)

• embroidery floss, thread, cotton spools

• various needles
• seam ripper
• fabric strips and small scraps, ribbon, lace, etc.
• TRY EVERYTHING-You never know what you'll like! (Wise advice from Molly)

Next, here are some more photos of Molly's incredible journals, plus a few ideas to try.

IDEA to try: Bind a book of fabric pieces (like cotton and muslin) into an old hardcover book. Use this book as your place to practice your stitches.

Idea to try: Make paper and fabric collages on tags. Stitch and/or glue random bits to the tags, too.

Idea to try: Make your own little fabric books for fabric collage and stitching.

Molly's Mindset About Stitching 

"Go at it and see what happens."

Let it be random and just play.

Do what works best for you.

Use stitching as a way to add mark making.

Add details to your page with stitches.

You don't have to fill the page with a stitch.

Draw with images; stitch an image onto your page.

Stitching is a slooooooooow process; it calms the mind in a way that collage didn't for Molly. It gives her a sense of peace.

Stitching is also different from collage because you can see where you started and where you've been by looking at the back of your stitched piece.

---------------

There are many ways to learn how to do various stitches. 

YouTube is a great resource. Here's how to stitch a French knot that Molly mentions.

Another great online resource is CreativeBug.

How to Put a Collage Together by Molly Anthony

Choose Your Materials

Choose some fabric that feels good to you, ie feels soft.

Choose a piece of paper collage that has meaning or that you like.

Choose a piece of ribbon or a smaller piece of fabric.

Choose a word, such as "hope" that you'll stamp onto your piece.

Glue Sticks and Stitches-Finishing a Piece

You can pin things into place, or simply move them around until you are ready to add glue and stitches.

1. Decide on the thread you'll use. The thread can be a contrasting color or a matching color.
2. Layer the fabric and paper pieces you've chosen.
3. Do some "seed stitches".
4. Apply glue stick to the back of the paper you will add on top of the fabric layer.
5. TIP: Use a thimble when doing your stitches. Needles are sharp!
6. Add some stitches, perhaps some French knots (see video above) to the fabric and paper collage.
7. Stamp a word with StazOn ink directly onto a piece of fabric and adhere or stitch to your collage.

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Here are some stills from the Facebook Live of Molly sharing her work:

We will end this post just as Molly ended the Facebook Live by sharing a little hope with us and the rest of the world.

We are sending lots of love out to you all. May you stay safe and well during this difficult time in our world.

May you find solace in stitching or some other form of creative expression. Art, music, dance, theater, storytelling, writing, photography-we need all of it right now!

Thank you to all of the people who work in the medical field, with the elderly, with children, or anyone who does work that brightens our living experience.

Sending Peace and Blessings,

Briana and Molly

PS As teaching artists, our work has been canceled or postponed right now. If you can help support Molly and Briana by purchasing some of our online offerings, we'd greatly appreciate it! Thank you in advance if you are able to help. Also, be sure to buy your books and supplies and/or gift cards from local small businesses like Wet Paint when you can! It matters for their survival! Thank you!

You and your creativity matter.-Briana of Orange Spiral Arts

 

 

Visual Journal Collective June 2018 Meeting-Paper Toy-Cootie Catcher

Greetings to you! Thank you for being here.

For the June Visual Journal Collective meeting, we got a little playful and made a paper toy. The book, Magic Books & Paper Toys by Esther K. Smith was used as a reference. (This is such a great book! I highly recommend Esther K. Smith's books!)

 

We learned how to fold up a "Cootie Catcher" from a square piece of writing weight paper. Then we brainstormed as a group, how we might make use of our paper toy.

Some members of the group did their own Google Search to jog their childhood memories.

Also, co-facilitator TJ Goerlitz thought it might be fun to try to draw the Cootie Catcher in her sketchbook.

Working in our journals is always encouraged at our monthly meetings.

Artist, Theresa Harsma (above) decided to make a sketch of her Cootie Catcher she made at our meeting.

Theresa's Cootie Catcher looked like a map, due to the line drawing she did on her ledger paper.

Artist Sue Rowe also drew one of her Cootie Catchers. (See pink image in photo below).

Each participant had a unique idea on what could be done with the Cootie Catcher.

Book Artist, Kari Kruempel turned her Cootie Catcher into a poetry maker.

I tried to catch everyone's great ideas, but I unfortunately was too caught up in the moment to take notes. So, I guess I will just share the pictures.

 

As you can see, we had a great time!

Below are some of my work in progress photos I took before we had our sharing time a the end of our meeting. These Emoji stamps by Yellow Owl Workshop are so fun to play with. 

I am in LOVE with this eye stamp by Yellow Owl Workshop, too. And I've had this set by The Small Object for a long time. They were so fun to use!

And the end of each meeting, we try to have journal sharing. It is soooo inspiring to see other people's journals. We had time for a couple of peeks into Molly's, Sue's, and TJ's.

Here's a peek at Molly's current journal project.

And here's a look at Sue's journal pages.

However, TJ's journal pages are TOP SECRET, as her pages were about her upcoming workshop featured in 21 Secrets-The Great Outdoors. (You can also SAVE by signing up for the 21 Secrets Summer Studios Bundle that features Just Add Water, which starts July 9th, AND 21 Secrets Summer Studios- The Great Outdoors (starts Monday, July 30th)).

I LOVE 21 Secrets online art journaling workshops. There is great instruction, variety, and they are to keep forever! Also, you are supporting small businesses and artists when you purchase 21 Secrets online art journaling workshops. It's really a win-win!

I want to thank everyone who showed up to the June Visual Journal Collective meeting! It was so fun!

MCBA SHOP INSPIRATION

The SHOP at MCBA has so many great journals, zines, artist books, paper, book binding supplies, and cards. Some of my favorite cards featured above are by Twin Cities artist Jennifer Kunin.

IN SUMMARY

We made Cootie Catchers at the June 2018 Visual Journal Collective meeting.

It's great if you can support local businesses, shops, artists, and online teachers.

There's so much inspiration out in the world, and I feel grateful for it.

I am thankful that you are here, reading this post, too. 

Sending Creative Vibes and Blessings,

Briana

 

 

 

 

Color, Color, Color Has My Heart-Special Announcement about 21 Secrets Fall 2016 Edition Color, Color, Color

Color is one of the things I am most grateful for in this life. Ever since I was a child, playing with large boxes of crayons, colored pencils, and markers is what thrills me most. With that being said, I am so happy, excited, and pretty much ecstatic to be one of the 24 teachers in the fall 2016 edition of 21 Secrets Color, Color, Color!

I have been working hard all summer preparing for my workshop in 21 Secrets Color, Color, Color. My workshop is called, "Draw, Paint, and Print Artful Color Patterns." 

This fall, on Monday, September 26th, you'll have the chance to meet 24 amazing teachers who are sharing their best color secrets with you. If you register today, or at least by Friday, August 19th, you can SAVE $10 (enter coupon code: COLOR). 

What you'll receive is a downloadable PDF of 150+ pages, over 25 hours of videos, and the opportunity to connect in the 21 Secrets Facebook Community.

I do hope you'll join us. This is going to be ridiculously fun! We all need a little more playtime in our lives. 

See you soon!

Sending you colorful and playful energy!

Many Blessings,

Briana

Mark Making Monday-Oil Pastel and Scraped Paint

Hello There! 

Thanks for being here for another Mark Making Monday blog post!

Today I am sharing the idea of working a scraped paint scrap paper (try saying that four times fast) with oil pastels.

The beauty of oil pastels is that they easily glide over the top of layered backgrounds. They are also rich and vibrant in color.

Here's where it all started. 

I painted this piece of deli paper to use in a Mother's Day gift for my mom.

When I got too much paint on my palette, I'd scrape the extra paint on a regular piece of copy paper to my right, rather than waste the paint.

When I was done, my "paint off" paper looked like this (see below).

I ended up using this paper to make a Mother's Day card (see below).

And I also put some in my mom's jar of collage papers that was my gift to her.

I still had some scraps of scraped paint paper left, so I decided to take those little pieces and work them with a little oil pastel mark making magic.

BEFORE oil pastels

DURING the mark making process with oil pastels

FINAL oil pastel marks and color on scraped paint scrap paper

The invitation here is to simply play with line, mark making, and color combinations. Enjoy!

Blessings,

Briana

PS If you are local to the Twin Cities, I will be teaching on the following dates:

Saturday, May 21st, 10am-2pm at courageous heARTS in Minneapolis, MN-This is the final LIVE Beautiful BEing session to write and paint as a way to get in touch with your heart and intuitive knowings.

Sunday, May 29th, 1pm-3pm at the Artful Nook in Richfield, MN-This is the Thermofax and Silkscreen Printing Workshop (NOTE: You'll need to purchase screens in advance, so don't delay! Register today and order your screens! There are suggested Etsy shops on the registration page.)

 

Brand *NEW* Workshop Announcement for Mixed Media Art Fans in the Twin Cities

I am thrilled to announce a brand *new* workshop that will be happening in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Sunday, November 15th, 2015, 1pm-3pm.  The Thermofax and Silkscreen Printing Workshop was requested after people saw the blog hop I participated in a few months back.

If you are a mixed media art fan who loves to work on a variety of papers, like cards, art journals, altered books, painted papers for collage or gift wrap, etc., you'll love this workshop!

You'll learn how to make a repeat pattern:

You'll learn how to print on a variety of papers:

You'll learn the kind of paints to use and how to care for your silkscreens.

Once you learn the basics of printing silkscreens on paper, you can take your discoveries home and experiment on wood, glass, fabric, and rocks!

You'll need to get two or more silkscreens, but all of the rest of the materials are provided.  For more information and to register for this exciting silkscreen printing method, click here!