Cassandra Tondro

Art From Scrap

By Cassandra Tondro on July 13, 2017 in Art Businesses

I was up in Santa Barbara today, and I stopped by a fun art supply store called Art From Scrap. They sell everything from leather scraps to fabric remnants, yarn, beads, wooden pieces, used canvases, frames, kitchen stuff, and scientific equipment as well as all sorts of things I couldn’t identify. The store is packed with interesting possibilities. It’s all there to be repurposed for art, and it’s very inexpensive.

Here are some of the fun things I found there. Old slides. I’m sure there must be some use for these.

Old maps. I’ve seen people do some interesting artwork on maps.

Old cards. These would be great for collage.

Old National Geographic magazines. Also good for collage.

Lots of wine corks.

Brilliant yellow plastic bottle caps.

They also have a gallery upstairs where they show artwork make from the leftover stuff that they sell. And they do children’s birthday parties in this room, which sounds like it would be really fun!

Check it out if you’re in the Santa Barbara area. They’re only open Thursday-Sunday. Art From Scrap, 302 E. Cota Street, Santa Barbara.

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Experimental Leaf Prints

By Cassandra Tondro on July 1, 2017 in Leaf Prints

I’m working on some experimental leaf prints for a new tutorial, which means a lot of trial and error. These aren’t what I would consider “successful” leaf prints, but aren’t they beautiful in their own way? I love abstract art!

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Vote for Your Favorite Art!

By Cassandra Tondro on June 19, 2017 in Latex Paintings

There are big changes happening with my art, but I don’t know what they are yet. I feel the inkling of something slowly bubbling up inside of me. More to be revealed!

In the meantime, I’ve been doing some experimental paintings, and I’ve started on three very different series of work. I thought it might be fun to share them with you, and let you vote for your favorite.

Look through the paintings, and then vote for your favorite series using the link at the end of this post. You can add additional comments, if you’d like, and I’ll let you know the results of the vote in my next newsletter.

The first group of paintings is the “Chaos and Comfort” series. This highly expressive and emotional work explores the feelings elicited by challenging times. Click here for more information about these paintings and to see them larger on my website.

Next up is the soft and sweet “Trending Now!” series of work, which reflects the hashtag trends I would like to see on social media. Click here for more information about these paintings and to see them larger on my website.

The last group of paintings are unfinished and in progress. I call them the “Unearthed” series, and they are created by sanding through many layers of paint and adding geometric designs to raise vibrational frequency.

The size of the “Unearthed” paintings shown above are left to right, top to bottom: 30 x 24 inches, 24 x 24 inches, 24 x 24 inches, and 40 x 40 inches.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE PAINTINGS!

I hope you’re doing well and enjoying a fun summer! Thank you for participating in this experiment, and for your support of my work.

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Partial Pushed Painting Technique

By Cassandra Tondro on May 1, 2017 in DIY Projects, Latex Paintings, Pushed Paint

Here’s another idea for the pushed abstract painting technique. On this piece I’m going to show you how it looks when you let some of the underpainting show through. I started with a reddish-brown latex underpainting on an 18 x 18-inch canvas.

The color palette of leftover house paint I chose for this piece is reddish-brown, rust, gold, yellow, light green and grass green.

I poured each color of paint onto plastic on the floor, but not as much paint as I would normally use. Notice that the paint doesn’t completely cover the 18 x 18-inch area I have marked off on the plastic.

I laid the canvas face-down onto the paint, and I DID NOT press it into the paint. I just laid it down gently and then pulled it back out of the paint, pulling from the top of the canvas. This will leave air pockets between the canvas and the paint, which is where the underpainting will show through.

Here’s the finished painting. The large dark brown areas are the underpainting showing through.

If you’re not familiar with this abstract painting technique, check out my Create Your Own Original Abstract Art tutorial available for immediate download. This is a fun and easy technique anyone can use to create amazing abstract art. No art school training required!

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Mauve Mistint Challenge

By Cassandra Tondro on April 24, 2017 in DIY Projects, Latex Paintings, Pushed Paint

I recently found this mauve paint on the mistint shelves at Home Depot, and thought it would be fun to see what I could do with it. Maybe it will give you some color ideas for your own work.

The mauve is a subdued color, so I paired it with some brights and some complementary colors: purple, turquoise, rust, olive green and lime green. I like to use unusual color combinations for my paintings

Here’s how the paint looked poured onto the plastic, before pressing the canvas into the paint.

And here’s how the finished painting looks after being pulled straight up out of the paint. The lime green paint was a little watery, and spread out more than the other colors. It also created a lot of bubbles in the painting. This piece is 18 x 18 inches, and it’s titled “Primordial Life.”

Cassandra Tondro, "Primordial Life," abstract art

Here’s the second pull from the same pour of paint. Notice that with the second pull the colors have become softer and more blended, and there aren’t as many bubbles. This painting is 20 x 10 inches, and it was pulled from the top edge of the canvas. It’s titled “Early Bloom.”

Once the leftover paint on the plastic is dry, you can peel it off and reuse the plastic.

If you’re not familiar with this painting technique, you may want to check out my Create Your Own Original Abstract Art tutorial available for immediate download. This is a fun and easy technique anyone can use to create amazing abstract art. No art school training required!

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New Tutorial – Create Your Own Original Abstract Art

By Cassandra Tondro on April 17, 2017 in Latex Paintings, Pushed Paint, Tutorials

I’m excited to share my latest tutorial with you, Create Your Own Original Abstract Art. I take you step-by-step through the easy-to-learn process I developed to create my Organic Series of paintings using leftover house paint. I share helpful tips for successful paintings, and you’ll be making your own amazing abstract art in no time.

This is a fun project for both children and adults. First I show you how to create the paintings yourself, and then I explain how to adapt the project to small and large groups. It makes a great classroom project for about 30 children, and can also be done at large outdoor fairs with hundreds of people.

The illustrated Create Your Own Original Abstract Art tutorial is a PDF file available for immediate download, and is for everyone who would like to learn a special technique for creating original abstract paintings.

Check out the new painting tutorial now!

My previous two tutorials are also available: An Introduction to Leaf Prints on Paper and A Study of Leaf Prints on Paper.

Keep me posted, and let me know how these tutorials are working out for you!

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New Unbleached Euro Flap Envelopes for Leaf Prints

By Cassandra Tondro on March 27, 2017 in DIY Projects, Leaf Prints

I’m kind of excited about these new unbleached Euro Flap envelopes from LCI Paper. They have little bas relief lines running across them, and the unbleached color is a warm natural tan.

Look how beautiful they look with a leaf print card printed on a Fabriano Medioevalis card blank (affiliate link).

So elegant! I highly recommend.

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New Painting “Harmony”

By Cassandra Tondro on March 20, 2017 in Latex Paintings

I thought I’d share this recent painting with you before it ships off to its new home in San Antonio, Texas. It’s titled “Harmony,” and it’s part of a new series of work.

I really like the open quality of this painting, the bright colors, and the interesting balance of the design. It’s 36 x 12 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on natural unprimed canvas.

My best paintings are the ones that come together easily, without having to think about them too much. I think that’s the secret to creating great art — learning to turn off our critical minds!

“Harmony” is sold, but “Ascension,” from the same series, is available.

“Ascension” is a beautiful painting in its simplicity and grace, with a Zen-like quality. It’s 24 x 18 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on unprimed natural canvas, and ready to hang with or without a frame.

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Leaf Print Frameable Art Cards

By Cassandra Tondro on March 13, 2017 in DIY Projects, Leaf Prints

Leaf prints on the Fabriano Medioevalis card blanks look awesome! These lovely off-white deckle-edge cards come in several sizes, and I like the 4.5″ x 6.75″ cards best. They come in sets of 20 cards with matching envelopes or boxes of 100 cards and 100 envelopes (affiliate links).

Leaf prints on these cards give beautiful golds, rusts, umber browns and occasionally a bluish-green. The prints are an interesting combination of clear and crisp and soft focus.

The inside of the card also picks up a lot of color, and it’s difficult to write a message there.

So I cut a piece of off-white paper to fit inside for the written message. You can leave it loose, or lightly glue it to the inside fold of the card.

When opened showing both sides, the card is a gorgeous piece of art, suitable for framing.

If you’re not familiar with the leaf print process, check out my Introduction to Leaf Prints on Paper tutorial for instructions on how to create the prints. Printing with leaves is an easy and fun project for both children and adults.

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Leaf Print Bookmarks with Solvent Transfer Text

By Cassandra Tondro on March 6, 2017 in DIY Projects, Leaf Prints

Leaf prints make great bookmarks, and this is a project anyone can do. If you’re not familiar with the leaf print process, check out my Introduction to Leaf Prints on Paper tutorial for instructions on how to create the prints. Printing with leaves is an easy and fun project for both children and adults.

Tear the paper into 2″ x 7″ pieces, either before or after creating your leaf prints.

I used Fluid 100 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper (affiliate link) for these prints. It’s an interesting paper that gives lovely rusts, oranges and golden browns, and dainty dotted outlines of some leaves.

I put a saying on the back side of the bookmark, such as “to be continued…” or “more to be revealed.” I prepare the text in Photoshop, and print it out to make sure it’s the right size.

Once the text looks OK, I flip it horizontally in Photoshop to create a mirror image, and print it on a laser printer. If you don’t have a laser printer, you can use a photocopy machine to mirror the image and create a print using toner. It’s the toner that transfers to the leaf print. Ink jet prints won’t work using this technique.

More information about solvent transfers here.

I use a Chartpak colorless blender marker (affiliate link) to transfer the text to the print. You can also use a solvent or Citrasolv.

Place the text upside down against the leaf print. Hold the paper with the text in place, and rub the blender marker over the text two or three times.

As you lift the paper away, you will see that the text has transferred to the leaf print.

I finsh my booksmarks by punching a hole at the top and adding some yarn or string. The string on these two bookmarks was dyed when it was used to hold bundles together when steaming leaf prints.

These handmade bookmarks make a beautiful and easy-to-create gift that nicely accompany a book.

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