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Arts and Crafts

October 19th 2020 Artists of the week

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Good evening Beartaria Creatives! We are back up this week with some amazing traditional and digital art. Thank you for bearing with us while we updated our email security. If you tried to send a submission and received a kick-back, please send it again as our system is back in action. We hope you enjoy it!

Click on the gallery images to view at full proportion.

Please send all Artists of the Week submissions directly to arts@beartariatimes.com. Include a short bio, piece title, piece description, and social links.

Below are October 19th, 2020 Artists of the week!

Daniel Ramos |  KatanaBear

Katana Bear’s Instagram

An independent Artist based in Chicago (born and raised). Been a member of the Bear community for a few years now, its’ awesome. Drawing is something I’ve always enjoyed doing. Whether it was just doodling in class or at home, it’s just a fun time for as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved animals and nature as well as music, which is a common theme in my art. I’m beginning to take drawing more seriously and am striving to improve and develop my overall style and to help share the beauty of God’s gift to us through art. Nobody is having more fun!

John Bradley

John’s Social Galactic | John’s Poster Archive

I had an art project from 2001-2010 wherein I produced close to 500 “historic racing posters / program covers” for a PC game called Grand Prix Legends, which simulated the 1967 F1 season.

The earliest ones were just cleaned-up scans of ‘real’ pieces from back in the day, but I quickly started doing my own designs using the tropes of the day (a lot of 2- and 3- color prints), and then went off the deep end with designs that had nothing to do with the reality of ‘60s design. (e.g. for “historic festivals” ostensibly taking place in the current day)

Most of the 500 were done at the low in-game resolution (281×431), or at a not-very high 3x size (843×1293), which is good enough for looking at on-screen. But around 100 of them were drawn at a 12x size (3372×5172), good enough for 20×30 posters – I have a bunch of them displayed in my house, and a full set of same in my portfolio.

They’re free and un-watermarked for anybody who wants them.

All the work was done in PhotoshopIllustrator, or Metacreation’s Painter 9, or some combination thereof, depending on the art style in question.

Dylan Smith | King Richard Bear

Dylan’s Instagram

Daisy-Anne Dickson

Daisy’s Instagram | Daisy’s Facebook | www.theWOKEstudio.com

I am an artist living and working outside of Atlanta, GA.  I have been drawing and painting ever since I can remember, as a small child. Creating and art is a way to rest and recharge my soul and I find enormous solace in it.  I did go on to study art at Oglethorpe University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2004.  Later, I would go on to earn a Bachelor of a Science in Nursing.  I am currently working as both a freelance artist and a registered nurse in emergency services and surgery.  I find time to create art and accept commissions in my “off” time.  I am also a wife and mother of two. Finding a way to care for myself, so that I may better care for others, has become especially important to me this past year—and art has given me that.

My work could be best described as narrative and often combines both my love of art and science.  My preferred media is acrylic paint, ink and paper collage on canvas or wood panels.  I also enjoy printmaking and often implement concepts of printmaking, such as repetition.  The use of vibrant colors and botanicals, especially roses, has become a recurring theme in my recent work. 

I am submitting my painting “A to Z and Back Again, with Rose Colored Glasses”.  This painting is about removing our ego from a painful circumstance, where we feel we might have already failed or about to give up.  It’s about letting go of the past hurt and pain, to allow ourselves the chance to start over with a better outcome. Ultimately, it is rooted in the lesson of forgiveness. 

Title: “A to Z And Back Again, with Rose Colored Glasses”
Size: 18” x 24”
Media: Acrylic, ink and gold on canvas

Jacob Whalen

Jacob’s Instagram | Jacob’s Behance | www.Jacobwhalen.com

I have been involved in this community since BB’s video on the Notre Dame Cathedral last April. I am an independent Catholic artist and songwriter. I feel like this is a world where I tend to have more to say or share, especially in the public square.

Thank you to all the creatives who submitted their portfolios this week!

We look forward to seeing everyone’s visual creativity! Continue to create and seek the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. Onward to Beartaria!

You can find out more about the Artists of the Week here.

Sincerely,
MC-Bear

Arts and Crafts

Announcement: Beartaria Times National Festival Poster Contest

We want to announce a fun and friendly contest for a poster design for our National Festival this year.

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Calling All Artists!

We want to announce a fun and friendly contest hosted by BudBear, for a poster design for the Beartaria Times National Festival this year.

BudBear will accept submissions until August 24th.

Twelve finalists will be selected, and their designs will be printed and sold at the festival. Whoever sells out of 100 copies or sells the most by the end of the festival will be the grand prize winner with bragging rights and could allegedly receive a copy of their design signed by the Big Bear himself.

Designs should be digital renderings, 12×18 inches vertical, and 300 dpi. As always, please keep it to the clean and family-friendly standards of The Beartaria Times Community.

All proceeds will be donated to Beartaria Ozark Campground at BeartariaCampgrounds.com

Poster designs can be submitted to bearposters33@gmail.com for consideration.

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Arts and Crafts

Too Many Mittens

My mom has always loved seeing her children be creative, so she was thrilled when I showed interest in learning how to make mittens. So, in 2016, she taught me how to make wool sweater mittens.

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By: Charity (@trailerparkgirl on BTA)

My mom started making wool sweater mittens sometime around 2014. She got the idea from visiting a local Mennonite-owned store. She found patterns online and started out just making them for the family. We’re a family of ten, so there are plenty of us to make mittens for.

In 2015, at eighteen, I became her right-hand businesswoman and began photographing her mittens and selling them on Etsy. My younger sister, Madeline, drew the mitten in the shop logo.

My mom called her shop “Too Many Mittens.” She may or may not have gotten the idea for the name from the 1958 children’s book “Too Many Mittens.”

It’s one of a few books she remembers from her childhood. My mom grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the story takes place in Michigan. 

My mom has always loved seeing her children be creative, so she was thrilled when I showed interest in learning how to make mittens. So, in 2016, she taught me how to make wool sweater mittens. I found them to be pretty simple to make. Very fun, too. I already had some experience with sewing, so it didn’t take long to get the hang of mitten-making. The excitement of pairing different wool sweater fabrics together and adding cool buttons to the cuffs was enough to get me hooked.

We make the mittens out of wool sweaters from thrift shops. And we line the mittens with fleece. My mom and I have had a blast sifting through thrift shop clothes racks in search of funky wool sweaters. We’ve gone through hundreds of wool sweaters in the past several years. Sometimes I see a sweater that I love so much that I’m tempted to keep it for myself to wear. But then I think, “Nah, that’ll make some really cool mittens.”

A few years ago, I invested in an embroidery sewing machine and lots of machine-embroidery thread. It’s been lots of fun to play around with different designs on mittens. They really give mittens extra character. The machine was definitely worth it. And it was fairly affordable. I use a Brother SE625. 

Now, in 2022, my mom is far too busy for making mittens. She’s focused on helping raise some of her grandchildren. So, my mom decided to let me take over Too Many Mittens. I’m planning on adding other handcrafted goods to our shop in the future, like cold-process soap. I’ve been playing around with soap-making since 2018. I’m currently working on perfecting recipes. My goal is to have soap available by Spring 2023. I’m even trying to get my younger sister to design the labels for the soap. After all, it is tradition. 

One day, I hope my mom will have some extra time on her hands so that she can get back into making mittens. She really enjoyed it, just like I do. Together, we have sold over 350 pairs of mittens. I’m grateful for the time we’ve been able to bond because of our mutual love of mitten-making. If I ever have a daughter of my own, I plan to teach her how to make wool sweater mittens and so many other wonderful things.

Visit my Etsy shop, Too Many Mittens, Here!

Bears get 15% off with the code: TRAILERPARKGIRL

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Arts and Crafts

A Pointed Pen Calligraphy Tutorial

The fun thing about calligraphy is that there are many scripts, many pens, and many styles to learn.

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By: Snow White Bear

Pointed pens have pointed tips. They come in straight and oblique holders.

Some pens can do both. Choose whichever is more comfortable.

First, clean your nib by putting it in your mouth for a few seconds (older calligraphers still do this), or get a potato from your garden and stick all your nibs in it (a minute should be enough, but some do this overnight) or my favorite using up all the unnatural toothpaste the dentist gives you to clean your nibs. If you skip this step, I’ll get a message from you saying, “Snow White Bear, I tried to write, but the ink won’t come out.”  For ink, any calligraphy ink will work. Thinner ink is easier to work with; slowly add distilled or filtered water. Walnut ink can be made at home or bought and is easy to work with. Iron gall ink is tremendous but slowly eats at the nib. “Dinky dips” are popular for pouring ink in.

Don’t use printer paper.  Any paper that is 32lbs or more (Hp 32lbs is popular) and smooth will work. Some like resume paper even though it has a slight texture. I print calligraphy guidelines I find online on these papers then I’m ready to practice.

Pointed pens are great at Copperplate script. Here are the basic strokes: 

Always write using guidelines. Traditionally Copperplate is written at 55 degrees. Practice the basic strokes until you can do them at least 80% consistently. Now it’s time to move on to letters. Letters are made up of basic strokes. The basic strokes usually group the letters they are composed of. 

Practice and practice writing letters and practice writing them slowly. You know when you’re going too fast when your pen keeps scratching or skipping on the page. Clean your pen with water and a paper towel every once in a while when writing after letters are mastered, and practice many words with attention to letter connections (I’ve seen this be a whole course) and spacing. Traditionally calligraphers are taught to practice pangrams like “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Writing long phrases can help master spacing and words more quickly. Next, majuscules and capital letters are learned, and unfortunately, they use different basic strokes and spacing than the minuscules or lower cases letters.

There are other scripts one can write with a pointed pen. Spencerian, a script invented in America by Platt Rogers Spencer, is the second most popular. My favorites are Engrosser Script, Italian Hand, and Open-Shaded Script. 

Modern calligraphy is based on traditional calligraphy but stylized differently. Although you don’t have to learn traditional calligraphy first, many calligraphers recommend it. What’s fun about modern is that after you practice hard and learn the rules, you make your own style. 

The fun thing about calligraphy is that they are many scripts, many pens, and many styles to learn. I only mentioned a few. It’s technical art that is limitless, and you keep improving your script every time you practice. 

My favorite calligraphy resources:

Traditional calligraphy online lessons:

logoscalligraphy.com

Dreaming in Script by David Grimes 

https://www.dreaminginscript.com/

zanerian.com has free lessons

Modern calligraphy online lessons:

The happy ever crafter on youtube

Calligraphy supplies:

https://www.johnnealbooks.com/

https://www.paperinkarts.com/

Join your local Calligraphy guild.

-Snow White Bear

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