I recently joined a Facebook artist’s group for people with an interest in stencil cutting and spray painting. I’ve been cutting for a while now, making pretty simple designs, sometimes adding more complexity through developing multi layered stencils, and on the whole, keeping it simple.
Being in this new group is proving to be a really useful experience for me. I’m seeing people working at varying levels of expertise, folk are really generous with their knowledge, sharing tips and ideas, and encouragement too.
One of the reasons this group came into existence, is to invite people to make single layer stencils for a forthcoming exhibition. I’ve been wanting to take part, watching and waiting. Earlier this week, I decided to stop wanting, and start making. I drew a design, and began to cut. Several patient hours later, I have my stencil.
In case you are interested, I thought I’d share some work in progress photos with you, including one where I almost ended up with a beehive hairdo design!
It is begun 
Initial drawing 
Beehive? 
Early stages – first time working with a curved blade.
Joining this group has encouraged me to up my game : Ask questions, try something new, be patient, keep going. I am particularly grateful to Korp and WinnieMMay for kicking this project off, and to everyone who is providing encouragement.
Next steps are to think about the spray. What kind of surface will I put the design on to? Will I design a background? More to follow…