JaneVille: October 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Dia de los Muertos ~

stamp carving ~ Jane LaFazio

inspiration for the stamp ~ from my sketchbook ~ by Jane LaFazio

stamp carving ~ Jane LaFazio

by Jane LaFazio

My friends and I are putting on a mixed media art retreat in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for Dia de los Muertos, October 28-November 4, 2014. All the details and registration info is on our blog Tesoro del Corazon

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

from my sketchbook ~ a tiny tutorial and a page from Pam Carriker's new book!

from my sketchbook

My pal, Pam Carriker, has a new book out, titled "Creating Art at the Speed of Life" and I have some artwork in the book.

Here's how I created the artwork:

the subject ~ by Jane LaFazio

step one ~ by Jane LaFazio

step two ~ (with a Tombow, water soluble pen) by Jane LaFazio

step three ~ (with a Tombow, water soluble pen) by Jane LaFazio

step four ~ (blending the pen with a waterbrush filled with clear water) by Jane LaFazio

step five ~ (blending the pen with a waterbrush filled with clear water) by Jane LaFazio

step six ~ (blending the pen with a waterbrush filled with clear water) by Jane LaFazio

step seven ~ (I drew in the shadow and painted it with watercolor) by Jane LaFazio

step eight ~ (I cut out from an Italian book page, and collaged it) by Jane LaFazio

step nine ~ by Jane LaFazio

Buon Giorno ~ by Jane LaFazio

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Stencil Girl ~ the book

detail of California Autumn by Jane LaFazio

My pal, Mary Beth Shaw, has a new book, aptly named "Stencil Girl." It's full of projects using one of my favorite things, stencils! You can get the book on Amazon or through Mary Beth. And yes, I do have a piece in the book and yes, I used the stencils that I designed.

detail of California Autumn by Jane LaFazio

To create this piece, I used StencilGirl stencils designed by me, with acrylic ink on white and coffee stained cotton. I also stenciled organza, and used it to overlay some portions of the art quilt. I finished it off with hand stitching and free motion machine stitching.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Italy ~ from my sketchbook

at Villa Carlotta, sketching and watercolor in the rose garden~ by Jane LaFazio

my subjects ~ by Jane LaFazio

page in progress ~ Jane LaFazio

detail from my sketchbook ~ by Jane LaFazio

from my sketchbook ~ by Jane LaFazio

You can look, you can take photos, but to really be there,in the moment, there is nothing like sitting and drawing and painting what you see.

sketchbook page in progress ~ by Jane LaFazio

detail from my sketchbook ~ by Jane LaFazio

from my sketchbook ~ by Jane LaFazio

We created portfolios to hold our 5x7" pages from our trip.

my portfolio ~ Jane LaFazui

Thanks for coming along for the ride, and seeing Bellagio, Italy through my eyes, camera and sketchbook! Hope you'll join me on the French Riviera, June 1-7, 2014.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Italy ~ my wrought iron obsession

photo by Jane LaFazio

I plan to use some of these designs on my art quilts......some free motion stitching..

photo by Jane LaFazio

I'll show you my sketchbook pages from this trip to Bellagio/Lake Como in the next week or so.
Hope you'll join me on the French Riviera next year! June 1-7, 2014. Details here.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Italy ~ the savy traveler

I posted this on facebook, the first night I arrived in Bellagio, Italy.

"So, I dined alone tonight, on the shores of Lake Como, Italy. Wine, caprese salad, fresh bread. Half way through dinner, as I dipped the freshly baked bread into delicious green olive oil...I realized the dish, that I'd poured the olive oil into was..the ashtray. can we just blame it on jet lag?"

Here's the evidence.

I can image the restaurant staff were all having a good laugh! Once I realized it, I cover the offending olive oil 'dish' with a napkin and finished my dinner, giggling the whole time.

More photos from my trip to Italy tomorrow!