Tips from Liquitex

Liquitex have some good paionting tips on their site. While some of these are related to painting on canvas, many can be applied to the painting experience of the Folk Artist. Take a look at http://www.liquitex.com/home.html and take the Tip or The Month link. Then peek into the tip archive. If you have a tip to submit here you could be rewarded with a nice prize!

Removing paint from clothes

There are several remedies people try for this.
1. Commercial brush cleaner. This is especially good if the paint has not yet dried.
2. Vodka...yep rub it in.
3. nail polish remover...but check the fabric can handle it first.
4. Kiss off Stain remover...this works well too.

Above all else the golden rule is get it off before it dries if you can....and before it cures is the next best option. Then think...should I have worn an apron!

What mailing list should I join?

A Mailing list is a series of emails generated by a group of like minded people. There are many Folk Art mailing lists for you to choose from and they all have different styles of content and management. Some have membership fees attached. E groups lists are free. Some are moderated and some are not. Join up with them and if you find the mail not to your taste or liking the unsubscribe.

Graphite Won´t Show

Can´t see your graphite? Well that is easily solved provided you haven´t done your dusting! Grab a rag, collect some dust and rub this dust over the surface. The graphite will pick up the dust and you will see it again!

We are Artists!

Much and all as we often put ourselves in the category of crafters we need to have the courage to see ourselves as artists. We might not be Renoir or Monet, and probably don´t aspire to be, but we do paint and when we can draw and do our own designs we have crossed the threshold. Craft is often seen as artistic, (Just do a search on Folk Art and see what you come up with) and decorative painting is clearly artistic requiring skills in paint, brush, colour, light, harmony etc. Start saying to yourself "I am an Artist" and see what confidence that will eventually bring!

Keeping Painted Fabric nice

To keep your fabric painting as good as the day you painted it hand wash it. be gentle with it. I had a student who always wore handpainted windcheaters to class. they were immaculate, always clean and bright. I asked how she did that. How did she keep them nice. Her answer was that she handwashes them by first giving them a soak in warm water. Then a rinse in clean water. She ironed them too (more than I would do for a windcheater!) When it comes to my washing I always, (even if the label says handwash...´cos I forget to look) throw everything in the machine. My handpainted cushions don´t look as good as her clothes did...so I have learned the lesson once again. If it handpainted treat it with care. A hand wash in a mild laundry detergent should do the job.

Aboriginal Art

Australian Aboriginal art is a vital part of the world`s oldest continuous cultural tradition - as well as being one of the most brilliant and exciting areas of modern art. For an excellent Web site on this topic, visit www.aboriginalartonline.com. There are articles about art, culture, language, rock art and prehistory and lots of photographs, including of the people and landscape in very wild and remote areas of outback Australia. But the best part of the site is the great selection of colourful paintings, prints and didgeridoos - first rate!

Don´t get lost in search engines

Type Folk Art into a search engine and you will get sites related to all sorts of crafts that folks do...drum making, basket weaving...AAAgh! Try decorative Painting or tol Painting and you will be more near the mark. The best place for results in searching for painting related Folk Art is in the sites focussing on it. Check out the links lists at folkart-tips.com