Blackburn Fine Art

How to Make Soft Sculpture with Acrylic

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Thu, 9 Jul 2009 21:23:00 -0700

Here's a little technical trick to keep up your sleeve! Soft sculpture with acrylic paint, yeah! Check it out.

Digital imagery and Acrylic Paint

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:03:00 -0700

Recently I gave a free online webinar on Digital Imagery and Acrylic Paint. Golden Artist Colors has made some fabulous new products to allow you to print on acrylic paint skins. Sound crazy? Yeah, watch the video and get back to me. Way cool fun! By the way, this video is nearly 30 minutes long so get a cup of coffee and sit back. It's like a free art lesson!

Digital Imagery and Acrylic Paint

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:04:00 -0700

How to s-t-r-e-t-c-h your paint!

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:12:00 -0700

Here's a short video on how to stretch your paint by adding gels! Wahoooo!

How to s-t-r-e-t-c-h your paint!

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:25:00 -0700

Here's a short demo on how to stretch your paint by adding gel. Wahoooo!

Creating works on paper

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Wed, 3 Jun 2009 15:58:00 -0700

Here's a short video of how some of my works on paper are created. Enjoy!

New Work in the studio

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Tue, 2 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Here's a couple from the new Italia Series, acrylic on paper.

I was inspired to name this series after listening to Chris Botti's CD "Italia". Check him out

How big a role does music play in your studio? For me it's huge. I listen to a wide variety of music and often work on a series based on a piece of music. I'm likely to have a Johnny Cash piece playing right after an aria by Placido Domingo.

Music truly does calm the savage beast, but it also wakes up my creative beast!

President Obama and the White House Art Collection

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sun, 31 May 2009 10:26:00 -0700

President Obama rocks my world. He's forward-looking and creative and now he's bringing those two attributes to bear on the White House Art Collection. With Michelle he is bringing new work to the White House, the likes of which have never been seen before. No more stuffy 19th century portraits for our 21st century President and his wife. Read the entire article here. (Thanks to Gordon Bruning for clueing me in to this article). Some of my very faves are now in the White House; Richard Diebenkorn, Robert Rauschenberg, and Louise Nevelson just for starters. I am excited by this as is the rest of the art world. Finally! We abstract painters have a voice in the Highest Office.

So now when you are asked "what do you paint?" You can say, "oh abstracts, just like the ones in the White House!"

Obama and the White House Art Collection

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sun, 31 May 2009 10:05:00 -0700

President Obama rocks my world. He's forward-looking and creative and now he's bringing those two attributes to bear on the White House Art Collection. With Michelle he is bringing new work to the White House, the likes of which have never been seen before. No more stuffy 19th century portraits for our 21st century President and his wife. Read the entire article here. (Thanks to Gordon Bruning for clueing me in to this article). Some of my very faves are now in the White House; Richard Diebenkorn, Robert Rauschenberg, and Louise Nevelson just for starters.

I am excited by this as is the rest of the art world. Finally! We abstract painters have a voice in the Highest Office. So now when you are asked "what do you paint?" You can say, "oh abstracts, just like the ones in the White House!"

A recent trip to Seattle

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:59:00 -0700

Recently, I visited a client in the Seattle/Bellevue area to see some of my work installed. Here's a short video of the artwork installed.

A recent trip to Seattle

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:21:00 -0700

Recently, I visited a client in the Seattle/Bellevue area to see some of my work installed. Here's a short video of the artwork installed.

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:58:00 -0700

I've just started my new podcast
Stay tuned for more podcasts and be sure to subscribe to stay up to date. I'll be sure the podcasts have lots of information and technical tricks to keep your creative juices flowing!

Check out the podcast

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:25:00 -0700

I've just started my new podcast

Stay tuned for more podcasts and be sure to subscribe to stay up to date. I'll be sure the podcasts have lots of information and technical tricks to keep your creative juices flowing!

Repost of March 15, 2009

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:04:00 -0700

New work in the studio

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:17:00 -0700

Here's a look at the most recent painting from my studio. SPRING ECLIPSE

New work in the studio

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:17:00 -0700

Here's a look at the most recent painting from my studio. SPRING ECLIPSE

Webinar Video Update - Monoprint without a Press

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:30:00 -0700

Thanks to everyone who visited the Webinar on Saturday February 21. I did a live, interactive webinar on Monoprint without a Press using Golden's slow drying acrylic, OPEN.

Here's the edited version of the live webinar. We had some audio problems but for the most part I'm happy with this first effort.

MONOPRINT WITHOUT A PRESS USING GOLDEN ACRYLICS "OPEN" PAINT.

Here's what Joe Coho (who attended "live") had to say: "I truly enjoyed your webinar. And I meant it when I said you did a great job, especially for a first try. The technical problems didn't keep your enthusiasm from coming across... And I could see what you were doing, too... More important to me was your enthusiasm for your subject. Living in the foothills outside of Yosemite in Mariposa, the chance to participate in a real class is a joy. So thank you for your work."

Thanks, Joe, for your feedback. I'd love to hear from anyone else who attended. It's really great to be able to reach people all over the world who are interested in attening a workshop "online"!

Look for more live webinars in the future. Be sure to visit my website and sign the guestbook to be kept up to date with upcoming webinars and classes.

Webinar Video Update - Monoprint without a Press

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:30:00 -0700

Evolution of a Painting

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 13:35:00 -0700

Play the video above to see how a painting takes shape in my studio.

Evolution of a Painting

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 13:35:00 -0700

Play the video above to see how a painting takes shape in my studio.

The Joy of Teaching

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:58:00 -0700

One of the great things about teaching is the people you get to interact with as a teacher. Here's a recent photo of one of my classes in Walnut Creek. This is the Tuesday night abstract painting group, with a couple of people missing.

I have such a good time teaching! Thanks to all the folks out there who have been my students. I learn so much from all of you!

The Joy of Teaching

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:58:00 -0700

I have such a good time teaching! Thanks to all the folks out there who have been my students. I learn so much from all of you!

Using Acrylic Skins for color correction on a painting

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Wed, 4 Mar 2009 20:29:00 -0800

When I'm under a tight deadline to get a painting finished, I sometimes don't have the luxury of making "mistakes". Mistakes are usually something I love! They bring about some very rewarding paintings. However, if I'm under the gun and have to produce, I can't afford to make a mistake. So I will make an acrylic skin on glass and lay it down over an area in a painting that I'm thinking about, just to see what it might look like. Especially, as in the most recent painting, when I'm working really large and changing a "mistake" would take a gallon of paint and half a day. So look below and you'll see three different skins I made to check for color against the painting that I had in progress.

Brush the paint out on glass or heavy duty black plastic. Let it dry and then you can peel it up and hold it over the area on the canvas that you are considering. Be sure to make the paint layer thick enough so that you can peel it up and it will hold together. Below I'm holding the dry paint skin over the painted canvas. Looks good!

Here's a studio shot of the finished piece.

Using Acrylic Skins for color correction on a painting

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Wed, 4 Mar 2009 20:29:00 -0800

Here's a studio shot of the finished piece.

Webinars - Monoprint without a Press

tesia.artist@gmail.com (Tesia Blackburn) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:08:00 -0800

See the Post on March 26, 2009 for an updated version of the Webinar.