New Horizons

     Another long hiatus:  visiting daughters and grandchildren; restructuring my artistic pursuits, and generally having a relaxing summer.  This is the first time since I retired from teaching 12 years ago that I haven't been actively involved in creating products to be sold.  I no longer feel the burden of paying rent each month, having to work (fun but restrictive), and keeping my "merchandise" current.  Although I still bring items into the shop on a consignment basis, the presssure to produce is gone.

      My life is still very busy, but much more laid back:  I art journal nearly everyday (as shown on my last posts), have a major project involving journals in the works, and am still sewing, printing fabric, hand stitching, and playing with new ideas.  Right now I am restructing some old wall hangings into smaller "works of art."

     Here is a 5 x 5 section of a much larger piece, cut up and "framed" with couched yarn (I neglected to take a picture of the whole wall hanging before slicing into it!). 

    On three of the 5 x 5 pieces, I hand stitched small swirls of yarn on top of the berries (same yarn used around the outside of each square) and then added small copper beads.  I also snipped scraps of sheet copper and stitched them by machine to "empty spots" across the composition.

     After completing all three squares, I covered a piece of foam core with art paper, touched it up with some metallic paint, and then adhered the squares in place.  This whole idea was conceived after some of my larger wall hangings did not sell, and so I removed them from the shop..  Now, I have made quite a few of these ART X 3 hangings (which fit into a narrow space), and they are selling quite well .  I'm really enjoying the process of recycling old pieces and adding new ideas to my repertoire.

More Pages and a Step-by-Step

     Two days in a row!!!  I decided I'd better do this now since tomorrow I'll be heading out to Rhode Island to visit my other daughter (I also have trouble with internet there) for @10 days.  So, I'm showing a few more finished journal pages and a mini-tutorial on how they were created.  (Remember if you want to view any of the pages more closely, simply click on the page and it will enlarge!)

     This one's blurry (sorry!).  I tried several times to take a clear image, but I think the shiny colors interfered with my camera.  I decided to publish it anyway. . .



     As I said in an earlier post, all of these pages were created using a very limited set of materials.  Yesterday, while making my final pages, I decided to record the process step-by-step to help me remember and to share the fun:

This magazine image of an interesting woman was my inspiration--she will appear on the finished page.

     This layout shows the first and seconds steps:   I found some paper scraps that seemed to fit the colors from the magazine image:  blue, violet, and black.  After tearing the papers into pieces and collaging them on the page w/gel medium, I filled in some of the white spaces w/Neocolor II watersoluble crayons.

     I brushed the crayon colors with water and spread them around  (always heat set carefully between each application of color). I then selected three Portfolio water-soluble oil pastels, again dark blue, violet, and black.

     This time I chose to draw square shapes acoss both pages with the three colors.  The next step will be to brush over the pastels w/white gesso and heat set.

     After finishing each gessoed square, I used the pastels again around the inside edges and brushed with water to move color across the center spaces (I find that oil pastels don't spread as easily as water-color crayons).  Again, heat set!

     The final step with pastels was to outline the outside edges of each shape and rub them gently with a damp baby wipe.  This should dissolve most of the pastel while leaving a frame of color.  HS.  (I like how the background shows through on most of the squares,) 

     Now it was time to stamp.  I used black Staz-On ink with  both my hand-carved eraser (small circles within circles) and my favorite script block stamp across both pages.  You don't have to heat set permanent ink, but just make sure it is completely dry before proceeding.

     The finished page:  I cut out the woman (disguising the famous designer by cutting apart his name and attaching some of it upside down) and finally selected three circular images of "cool" fungi.to add balance.  The title was written by hand using first a brush marker and then close dots of Inkessentials Enamel Accents (love them!) in black.  (I didn't heat set the enamel because I wasn't sure how it would react; I did leave the book open overnight to make sure it dried completely.)  I'm happy. 

Still Struggling

     I had good intentions of blogging every 2-3 days, BUT. . .  I have been visiting one of my daughters at her cottage in upper MI and my internet doesn't work there.  I did, however, take a few of my journaling supplies up with me.

     These included:  gel medium,  Portfolio water-soluble oil pastels, water-soluble crayons, Golden transparent yellow oxide, a black ink pad, and my box of stamps (I only used one script stamp and my set of hand-carved erasers).  I also brought a folder of scrap papers and my collection of magazine images.  With these limited materials, I produced five double-paged journal entries and had a lot of fun!!!

     Since I feel that I learned a lot through using only a few supplies, I have decided to continue with these same materials for the next few days.  I really like to work around a theme (my first journal pages all included a small inset of a "carved" woman's face {downloaded from Milliande's Art Journal free pages} and a picture of a bird).  These new pages will all use a magazine photo of a woman to match the colors and other items that seem to fit.  I'm still having FUN.

Long Time; No Blog

     It is very hard to come back after being gone so long--I've forgotten how to do Stuff!!  I'll probably spend most of my time editing after I finally post.

 Anyway:  1)  I'm back in Michigan  2)  I spent the whole month of May birding with my buddies  3)  I worked hard the month of June playing catch-up and working at the shop  4)  I made a life-altering decision to change from being a member/owner of the Imagine That artist's co-op, to simply becoming a consignment artist.  5)  I've been having a whole bunch of fun expanding my art-journaling techniques.

A wonderful art journaler named Paula Phillips, better known as journalartista,  has a set of  beautifully informative live videos on Ustream, and I am totally hooked.   I've started journaling every day and am also in the process of setting up several more journals for different purposes.  I LOVE IT!!!  I am still:  1) doing art projects for the shop  2)  cleaning my basement  3)  organizing my stash, books, drawers, etc., etc., etc.  BUT I now have time to play, and I'm wallowing.

     The above are two examples of pages in my working art journal.  I usually begin a new page spread after dinner one day and finish it the next morning before starting other projects.  Right now I am experimenting with new paint and paper techniques, so every new page is a challenge (sometimes an uphill battle!), but I find you don't give up on a page--you just add another layer.

Organization Sunday 4

    Whee!  Almost didn't make it.  I've been having too much fun art journaling and making ATC cards (may show them later).  Yes, I did get my quota of  HAVE TO DO stuff done today, including taking the photos for my organizing project, but-- I almost forgot to blog.

     Definitely a candidate, right?  This is the small cupboard in which I keep all of my various and sundry fusibles, freezer paper, and parchment, etc.  I usually put the left-over scraps into a baggie and stick it into the "black hole"  (sometimes never to be seen again).  After hauling everything out, I tried to sort the mess into like piles, but I still had no idea how to keep them straight.

     At Target I found this stacking shelf.  It fit inside the cupboard, but didn't leave any room for stacking!  My bolt of double-sided fusible pellon fit nicely on top, but not much else.  The shelf left a lot of open space underneath, but I couldn't figure out what to do with it.  So I went to Home Depot.

     Presto!   I know I have seen this somewhere before, but I'm impressed with my luck.  I bought a 10 ft. length of 3" PVC pipe, had a poor young guy saw it (by hand) into six 20" lengths, and paid all of $5.99 for my storage solution.  I sanded off the ends and planned to glue the sides together with the special PVC glue, but I couldn't get the $#%& can open.  Oh well, it works anyway. 

     Finished product:  I pasted a label on each tube and added a small plastic tray which sits nicely on top and holds my Misty Fuse.  I am happy.



     This is the offending can of glue:  I tried running it under hot water, tapping with a screw driver, using pliers, and swearing.  NOTHING worked.  I guess I'll just have to wait until a pair of strong hands materialize. . . .  Which reminds me,  I may not be doing any organizing for a few Sundays.  My oldest grandson is coming out from New York this coming Saturday, staying for 10 days, and we plan to hit the road.  When he leaves, I will only have a few days before I have to head back to MI.  So, I have a feeling this blog may be dry for a few weeks.  Never fear; I shall return. 

A Few More Pages

     OK, so I'm stalling.  I really should be painting some fabric background for one last project that needs to be completed before heading home, but. . . .



     Hands are facinating.  Besides our big brains, the structure of our hands is what makes us human.  My anatomy book provided some great design possibilities, so I cut out each piece, intertwined the fingers, and made the first page of another section:  Hands.  Not sure what will follow, but I've got some ideas.



     And another section:  Self.  I had fun picking out the papers for the letters, the pictures of me were all lifted from photos taken Christmas 2010 by one of my grandchildren, but the background paper (too shiny) doesn't translate well.  I may end up adding some black pen scribbles or something to tone down the GREEN.

     Can you tell this is my first self-portrait?  Ms. Frankenstein.  OK, so it's another blind drawing (which probably needs a blind viewer, too), prompted again by Jane Davies.  This time I needed a mirror (had to purchase one at the dollar store!) and a white crayon.  Looking at myself in the mirror, I drew my face (?) with the white crayon on white paper (couldn't cheat even if you want to), and then painted over the result with watercolor.  Why did I choose green, AGAIN?  This is a very humbling experience, but at least I can use the excuse that I couldn't SEE what I was doing.

A Journal of My Own

    This past week I have been taking a bit of a break from creating items for my shop back in Michigan .  For one thing, my time here in AZ is growing shorter; two, I wanted some playtime; and three, I ran across a couple of new blogs that really stress the importance of personal art journaling.   iHanna's blog led me to create a new kind of journal--an altered book.  I found found several good choices at a thrift store and selected an old anatomy book for my first real attempt at creating a personal journal. 

     Mr. Muscles is actually one of the frontpieces of the anatomy book; I added my own chipboard words which will become the title of my journal.  I haven't done anything to the book's cover yet, but I'm processing ideas.  I removed about half of the pages of the book since it would become too cumbersome with all of the additions I will make in my journaling.  I will also be dividing the journal into sections, alloting 10-12 pages per section. 

     Another frontpiece of the old book which I had to keep.  One of my daughters is a high-school English teacher who loves Shakespeare; I added my own comment  (seemed appropriate).



     Here are a couple of the pages torn from the old book:  I cut them into strips, wove the pieces back into one page, and refastened it into my journal. 

    After gessoing over the back of the woven insert, I added my message, and then used water-color crayons to put some color back into the design.  (I am using red and blue for the first few pages of my journal  to give homage to the flesh and blood represented in the pages of any anatomy book.)



     This is the last page of the intro part of my journal (a few pages weren't shown here), and it leads to the next section:  BIRDS.

     Only semi-sucessful page--the message of stamped letters on painted tissue paper (also from Hanna's blog) worked beautifully, but the background is way too dark.  I took some of my hand carved stamps, placed a piece of printer paper over them, and used the edges of Crayola crayons to rub patterns of the stamps onto the paper.  That part was OK, but when I added paint over the top, I lost a lot of the color.  Oh well, the chickadee was my focal point, anyway.

     A quickly-collaged page calls to mind a super fun birding trip this winter with friends from Michigan.

     A "lovely" piece of art,  this shows one of my first blind drawing attempts (prompted by a blog session with Jane Davies) in which I closed my eyes, thought "bird" and started drawing.  Yikes!!  I added the color with my eyes open, thank heavens.  It was fun, and I'm adding it to my bird section--it's my own personal art journal, after all.

      And another. . .  I thought this looked a bit Picassoesque (sp.)  No comments, please.

     Really do like this one!  I had drawn these warblers during the winter for some small notepads and still had the masters, so I printed them on tissue paper.  After cutting around each bird, I adhered them to a piece of cardstock with gel medium and colored the spaces with water-color crayon.  I activated the crayon, cut out a bunch of leaf shapes from some painted tissue paper, and gelled (?) them down, too. 

     I actually have a couple of more journal entries ready to post, but I'll save them for later (I know, this entry is way too long already!!).  Some ideas about other sections wanted to get put onto paper. That's probably how I'll function with this journal--ADD is my friend!!!.