Mixed Media Artist

Rainbow Gravity Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Whenever I start up with a new medium, I always expect it to be easy.  I don't know why.  Experience has certainly not borne out this cock-eyed optimistic view of life, but nonetheless... So, I'm humbly sharing some of my earliest "paintings" with alcohol inks.  Yikes!  Over time, I have gotten better, though I'm nowhere near the proficiency level of the best pieces that you see on Pinterest ! Please visit my tutorial on making your own alcohol inks .  It's way way cheaper than buying them ready-made, though as I get better at working with them, I may decide to add some of the Pinata or Ranger colors.  I know the pieces that follow are not that good...they are my baby beginner practice pieces! Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contains an affiliate link: Dick Blick Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. Th

Falling Further In Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Prints for sale I have been trying some different swipe methods with my acrylic pours, and I recently stumbled onto a technique that I REALLY like.  A lot!  Here's what I did: 1. Since I was just experimenting, I used an old masonite board that already had some dried puddles on it.  You can see the rough surface in the middle.  After painting the background with Black gesso , I added my paints on the diagonal as you can see.  The basic formula for all of the paints is as follows: 1 part heavy bodied acrylic paint 2 parts GAC100 9 to 12 parts Floetrol or GAC800 Dash of 91% rubbing alcohol Spray of silicone (except in the base color, white) 2. Here are the colors I used: Titanium white , Medium magenta , Hansa yellow light , Cobalt teal , Dioxazine purple 3. I used an old plastic card to drag the paint from the center towards one corner. 4. I added more paint and swiped it towards the opposite corner. 5.

Do you enjoy sewing with children or grandchildren?  Do you want them to learn how to use a sewing machine but also how to do hand stitching beautifully?  My personal opinion of some books that try to do these things is...boring!  No kids want to make uncool, unhip, untrendy projects just to learn some skills. What they do want are projects like these, which you'll find in  Sew Creative  by Jennifer Pol Colin :   Mermaid tail blanket Chalkboard backpack Click on this table of contents to see it larger You'll notice that most of the projects are for beginners and intermediates.  Only one is considered difficult enough that help will probably be needed.  However, working alongside a child (either both working on one or each doing your own) will definitely add a lot to the fun!  I think a couple of Animal Neck Pillows are needed by my two grands!

Moonrise in December Cyndi Lavin, 2017 Prints for sale I showed you late last year how to do one of these deeper-toned paintings by using an  underpainting   (tutorial link).  For the painting at the link, I used India ink, but for this one I used a mix of a mix of  black gesso  and  white gesso , as you can see below.  If you need additional details about how I did this painting, check the other tutorial for more step-by-steps.       I used a mixed medium dark gray gesso to pull the top half with  Phthalo blue  and  Dioxazine purple .  On the bottom, I used a lighter gray to pull  Dioxazine purple , Quinacridone magenta , and Pyrrole orange .  Let it dry.     On the bottom half, I added glazes of Hansa yellow light and  Pyrrole orange .  After that dried, I touched up with the original colors mixed with White gesso .  When dry again, use a  pipette  to drip  waterproof black India ink   for trees.  My final step was to splatter the piece with a mix of Hansa yell

Last Monday, I shared a tutorial for crocheting a wave stitch scarf .  Also, there were other links to tutorials that I posted on  Beading Arts : Part one Part two Part three If you enjoy crochet as either a mainstay or sideline of your artistic diet, please visit my Crochet Pinterest board for more projects, links to stitch tutorials, and inspiration!

Ribbon of Blood + Broken Hearts Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Like everyone else, I cried the day that seventeen lovely people were murdered at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  That is was Valentine's Day only made it worse.  Instead of celebrating young love, we mourned the loss. I don't tend to make a lot of political statements, and I'm not usually one to attend protests or rallies.  I have nothing against these things, they are just not my mode of being.  Instead, I vote.  I pray.  I make art.  I donate money where I think it will help.  The piece above, Ribbon of Blood + Broken Hearts , came from my sorrow following that ugly day. It's taken me two months to post it here, because I wanted to be able to share the materials and the process with you, but at the time it was just too raw. 1. I decided to use the pour and tilt method of liquid acrylic pouring.   Gesso  your masonite boards and let it dry.   Place it inside an aluminum pan, ra

Particle Shower Do-Si-Dos Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Originals and prints for sale Last month, I mounted some of my paintings and got them ready for sale.  In my stumbling-around way, I eventually landed on FineArtAmerica , and decided that would be my new gallery home.  Right now I have a selection of pieces from my physics series available, and I am planning on adding more pieces: trees, geometrics, more from physics, and other abstracts.  If there is a particular piece that you'd like to have, please just message me at beadingarts at gmail dot com, and I will be happy to upload it there for you. Prints are available in quite a few sizes, from 5.5x8 inches to around 3x4 feet!  And they start at only $20 for the three smallest sizes. 

I've been playing around with alcohol inks lately.  I love the bright, over-the-top saturated colors, but I don't love the price.  Looking around online, I found several suggestions for making your own, but some of them neglected to take into account the differences in pigment vs dye in the markers, and the difference in the effectiveness of 91% rubbing alcohol vs regular 70%. Sun Drenched Icicles Cyndi Lavin, 2018 I have gotten much much better results with dye-based markers.  Most (not all) permanent markers are dye-based.  Here's an article you can read if you want to know about the chemical difference, and which markers are which. So what do you do?  Just pull off the point of the pen and put it in a small glass jar.  I used those tiny little jars that you get jelly in at Christmas time!  Pry apart of cut off the end of the pen and slide out the plastic covered reservoir from the center.  I recommend gloves!  It doesn't matter if it's dried u