joy to the world

Art journaling...

Joy!!!
Merry Christmas art friends!!!

a party on the page

Here is a peek at an art journal page that we did at Play on the Page at the Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville. Tis the season to be jolly...with lots of celebrating happening, so we created a party on our page.  Our journaling prompt was what gift has this past year given you, which we tucked behind the gift box.

I hope you are finding time for a bit of creativity...as you enjoy all the festivities.  :)

faithful to the process

Art journal page...reminder and declaration...

Keep processing, playing on the pages of your art journal.  :)

catch up

I can't believe it has been a whole month since I last posted...and I suppose that this upcoming month will be even crazier with the holidays...sigh...oh well...it is what it is...and I DO so love the holidays!!!  :)

I just thought I would catch up with just a few of the things I have been working on, playing with lately...in/for/around teaching classes...all very fun...

Finished up Ink-tober....

Lettering as background...

Oh...and then a little of this...not "play on the page" but fun anyway...and just look at colors...yum!!!

 And now this...

So much to be thankful for!

Blessings!

a fun opportunity

I have mentioned before that I teach a variety of art classes (to anyone who will sit still long enough to listen). ;)  Seriously, I just love it. And last week I had a wonderful opportunity to teach a mixed media lesson to an awesome group of young adults at Phoenix High School in Lincoln.  Here they are with their mixed media pieces (that will be used later as part of a different project).

Our project was creating a "master board," following step by step instructions with an emphasis on incorporating "found objects" (credit cards, paper towel tubes, sequin waste, dictionary pages, etc) as art tools...I am always super inspired by my students work when I teach because it is so fun to the same supplies, the same instructions "interpreted" so differently from individual to individual.  And young people create so freely...I think that they aren't worried about what is right or wrong or what people think...they just jump in and PLAY...did I say I LOVE it!?!  I am so thankful for this opportunity!

Follow their example and play at something creative today!  :)

inktober

I love inktober!  The challenge to do something inky everyday in October.  To make this "do-able" for myself, I chose to make one inky "thing" instead of creating an entire piece each day.  For example...one doodle, one lettered word or quote, one simple sketch, etc...and all of these go in my planner.  My "take" on the DLP-Documented Life Project- is that on the back of my month-at-a- glance is where I usually art journal for the month...and you guessed it...this month, this is where I am inking my inktober daily entries.

 

I love this challenge!  And while I don't think my drawings are "skillful" I do think that as I stretch myself to do a little something everyday, I enjoy the process more and more...Also, it is really fun to see what the final total page will be the month is over. 

Jump in and join the fun!  Happy Inktober!

cheer up!

In the class I taught today we looked at the art of Teesha Moore, the amazing artist who introduced me to art journaling over 20 years ago.  We talked about what we observed in her style and these are the notes that I made, highlighting the things I want to remember...

It is not a great photo but you get the idea...I used a craft tag...created little journal boxes for the different points that I wanted to note...used a variety of "fonts" to letter in my notes.  (I used my trusty Sharpie Pen for this.) Then I added a bit of embellishments with my Prismacolor colored pencils. Finally,  I added little pops of color with the Sakura Gelly Roll gel pens in fun neons.

Then this is one of the pages that I created Teesha-style...
(watercolored background...plain and simple since I knew I would be adding lots more to this page...)

Then came the collaged borders...and the girl (I couldn't resist her cranky little face!)...and her autumn dress...doodling...shading...and journaling...

So, so much fun!!!  It is so good to look at other artists and their work...really study them...find out what resonates with you, and then experiment, play, and learn new things!

Thank you Teesha Moore...for sharing your authentic style and for so much inspiration.

a day at the museum

One of the items on my summer bucket list was "visit a museum."  With all the busy-ness of life, I had all sorts of "good" reasons why I shouldn't go...BUT with Labor Day marking the official end of summer, last week I decided it was now or not...and so my daughter and I ventured downtown to The Crocker Art Museum.

As we wandered and talked about what we saw...what we liked and didn't like...I made a few interesting discoveries...I mostly liked works of art that include people...there is something interactive, engaging about looking into the face, the eyes of a "person"-even a painted person.  wink

Some of the other pieces I enjoyed...
Abstract is not usually "my deal"...but I think I love these colors...

This (flat!) painting was totally engaging...the dimension was so "real"...

This was HUGE so its size alone got my attention...and it reminded me of a mixed media piece...duh, no wonder I like it...  :)

It was a super fun outing!  I can't believe I almost didn't go. It really didn't take a long time and wasn't very expensive...it was SO GOOD  for me (and such a fun time with my artsy daughter)...my art-heart got all full...AND the discoveries I made have been thought-provoking, probably not life changing or anything but I think that they will definitely inform my art...kinda cool!

Soooo....I encourage you...make time, take time to work on your bucket list...every now and then do some/one of the things that fill your heart...

yummy texture!

One of the things that I LOVE on my journal pages is texture...

This page included texture paste, crinkled and glued tissue, textured cardstock, a doily, a kraft paper (brown paper bag) scrap, a manila paper die cut (with a Tim Holtz layering texture die), dictionary paper-of course!  :), and the perforated edge of a spiral page.  (You can "play" Where's Waldo and hunt around to find and identify these different elements :)...)  I glued all these down, "embracing" any wrinkles.  Then I applied the texture paste to overlap and touch the different elements.  When the paste was dry I applied a thin coat of gesso which really enhances the texture of the cardstock and the wrinkles in the tissue and kraft paper...YUM!!!  For color I used watered acrylic paint...

I now have a great foundation for my art journal page.  I could add my focal image at this point, or continue to layer on collage elements and more color, or...well, the possibilities are limitless!  Too much fun!

Time to play!  :)

joys of teaching

I have shared before how much I love teaching...sharing this art journaling adventure...art plus journaling...woohoo!  The new class schedule for Sierra College Community for fall just came out and look what I found...

What a fun surprise...what a blessing!

Thank you to everyone who takes classes with me...love, love, love!

summer bucket list

August!?!  Already?  Can you believe that summer is winding down already?  Didn't it just start?

One of the things that we have done in a couple of my art journaling classes is create an art journal  page documenting...declaring? our summer bucket lists...you know, those things that sing of summer to you...the things that would make your heart happy to do this summer...

Here is what my page looks like...

I share this with you to encourage you to enjoy these summer days and do something "summer-y" that makes your heart happy.  :)

Enjoy!

peeking

I love interactive books...and so I am always looking for ways to make my own (journal) pages interesting and interactive.  I also love the symbolism of windows and doors. So when I saw the Tim Holtz 4-paned window die, I knew that I wanted to use it in my art journal to create a window that peeks through to the page behind.  This is the result...

I shared this at a few of my art journaling classes and everyone had a fun time with it.
I'm thinking of journaling: "perspective...looking out, looking in" What would you "journal" (write) on this page?
Hope you are enjoying the view from where you are.  :)

playing around...

Playing around is all part of the process...and so I experiment with my supplies, and with different color combinations...here I wanted to try a "neutral" background.  I layered gray gesso, black gesso, and white gesso with a variety of circle themed stencils...

Then I smeared bright acrylics onto a dictionary page, and decided this would be a fun pop of color on this background...I wrote "art" and cut it out...

Then I tore strips to create a frame...what to use as a focal image?  I decided to use one of my own sketches (a Juliette Crane inspired owl)--sketched on deli paper with a Stabilo ALL pencil and then "activated" with matte medium...

That was fun!  Engage the process!!!
Have an art.full. day!

documented life...

As I follow Documented Life Project 2016 (DLP 2016), I have tweaked my planner according to my own "system." I thought I would share my "decorated" April and May calendars (the backs of the calendars are what I art journal on.)

Above is my April page...I have been playing around with cutting words from scrapbook paper or paper that I decorated/painted myself...too much fun!

And this is my May page...the center circle contains a blind contour drawing of the perfume that I got for Mother's Day.   I just L-O-V-E doing blind contours...I have absolutely NO expectations with them (after all, how "good"  :) could they turn out when you can't even look at your paper?!?!?)...plus they almost always have a fun, wonky look to them.  I did this with my Stabilo ALL pencil and then activated and sealed it with matte medium.  This is a great warm-up exercise...try it!  :)

Adding art journaling to my planner keeps this art and journaling practice in front of me daily...and it is so much fun to USE my planner when it is decorated and so much a part of me!

Now on to June!!!

time flies!

Whew!  The days certainly fly by quickly!  I can't believe it has been so long since my last post...it has been very busy these past weeks...I have been blessed with lots of fun teaching opportunities, meeting so many new creative friends, playing on the pages of our journals together...Here is a peek at a page or two...

The above two pages are still in process since I will still add my journaling, and maybe a little "pen work"... always lots of mixed media fun!

Hope you can add a bit of creativity to these last days of spring...as we move into summer.!!!

pens, paper, letters

I love, love, love playing around with pens and paper (obviously!) and letters!  LOVE!!! I also enjoy lettering books, and so when More Creative Lettering came out by Jenny Doh, I got it (surprise!).

It is super fun to use the articles as prompts or tutorials to play in my lettering practice journal...this is a page that I did inspired by Megan Wells' chapter on page 58. I love this partly because it included a bit of dictionary  text (my favorite) and a thin coat of gesso...mmm...then a "sampling" of A's in a variety of "fonts" using several black markers (Sharpie, Kuretake Zig Managaka Flexible, Kuretake Zig Writer). Then, just because, :) I added a touch of color here and there with my Tombow markers.

This was TOO MUCH FUN!  And I will definitely do some more letters like this...or some quotes on the gessoed dictionary page...or in my altered book...oh, the possibilities!!!

Write On!  :)

spring forward

This isn't the best picture...and it was just something I did in the corner of a composition book, but I thought I would share it anyway...Obviously(!) inspired by spring AND daylight savings time...as well as the "reminder" to myself to keep pressing forward...a little lettering fun...

Happy Spring!!!

just right

Here is the page in my altered book that I posted about last time...WITH the focal image...

and here she is up close...

I love this image, and when I came across it in my "stash," I knew that it was the right image for this page.  I glued it down, swiped a bit of gesso on it to incorporate it onto the page. I doodled a simple frame around it and scribbly wrote some words on the side. These things (gesso, pen work, and writing) help the image "belong" on the page...not just a random "floating" image.

I'm very happy with the spread now...it may be finished...maybe  :)  ...unless I come across something else that would be just right also.

that was fun!

I've been teaching altered book basics this year, and so this has been my "playground."  This is one of the pages I have been playing with...

Combining my love of letters, collage,wash tape, fun edges, doodling...it is still in process since I know that I want to add clip art or a stamped image...I will update you as I finish it...

Too much fun!!!

clouds!

One of my favorite things to do is to look outside early in the morning and check out the sky as the sun is coming up...very often I snap a pic...it doesn't have to be amazingly colorful...I just enjoy seeing the sun come up, and if there are clouds in the sky...all the better!

I guess it is no wonder that I love to include clouds in my journals...one of the first stamp classes that I took 20+ years ago at Stampa Barbara included sponging ink over a cloud mask...it is still one of my go-to techniques...everything works against a sky back-drop.  :)

And these clouds are so much fun everywhere...on a blank journal page or even in an altered book (like above) or on dictionary pages (also a favorite of mine!  I have lots of favorites!!!  :)  )  Now I usually add gesso to the clouds to give texture and dimension...


AND the clouds make great lines to journal on...

Blue skies smiling' at me...and you!  Enjoy!

class fun

One of the things that I L-O-V-E to do is to share art journaling with others.  I have been very blessed to do this by teaching classes.  This past week-end I taught two classes at Quiet Oaks Ministries in Oakdale,CA. This was part one of a series of four that will take place each quarter this year.  We learned the basics of creating an "altered book."  The "girls" did an amazing job...I love teaching techniques and then seeing how differently everyone's pages look...so much fun.  Here are a few pictures of the event...

Set up and ready to go...

Play time...

It is fun to journal at home, but there is so much value in a class environment..."playing" together at art and on the pages of your art journal is an enriching experience...so very "good for you!" :)

Try it!