faithful to the process

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

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

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!

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!!!

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!  

Thankful!

So much to be thankful for!

Still!  Always!!!

blind???

Yep, blind...as in blind contour drawing.  You don't look at your paper...keep your eyes on your subject only...and use one line...you don't lift your pencil off the paper.  I was reminded how much I enjoy this exercise in a class by Teresa McFayden. Since you can't look, I feel like the pressure is off...I mean it really CAN'T turn out well if you aren't looking at your paper, right? Anyway, I may draw better "blind" than when I am actually looking...and I just love the whimsy that the sketches have...a bit of an exercise in faith...letting go...hmmm...

Here is a lamp that I drew "blind"...

I used my Stabilo ALL pencil to do the sketch and then used the waterbrush to wet and smoosh the lines a bit...Super fun!!!

Try it !  :)

the point of creativity...

I have been "playing" with my Faber-Castel gelatos, having a good ol' time and after I saw something Mary Engelbreit, I was inspired to make these flowers...

I smooshed the pink gelato around in big circles then applied water to blend...next came loose green leaf "shapes" and water to fill and move the color...I set that aside to dry...

 

 

On a scrap of dictionary text I made more circles...smaller, in yellow for the flower centers...blended with my finger...cut them out and glued them on the flowers...

Next I outlined the flowers in a "sketchy" sort of way :)

Finally, I smooshed the pink gelato on a plastic palette and added a bit of water with a brush and splattered the color...oooh!...I LOVE splattering color on a page!

 

Then I did MORE...

 

 

So very fun!!!  The above journal page reads "The point of creativity is the joy it unlocks in you." (Jane Davenport)...that is it!

 

Go ahead make a little joy!

much ado about nothing

I'm either reverting to my childhood or I am just needing some not-so-serious moments when I sit down in my studio...yep! I am still playing with crayons and watercolors...and enjoying every carefree moment!  I did several pages one day:  just scribbling the crayons around the page...

and then swishing watercolor over the top...

So much fun!!!

And then from one, I completed an art journal page...

 

 

Since this was just playing-around-on-paper fun...AND I had just seen Shakespeare's play by the same name...it seemed an appropriate journal entry (I used Kuretake Zig Sumi ink brush pen for writing-Love!).  :)

friends

hey friends!  :)

Hope you are having a colorful week-end!

beneath the surface

A little collage happening for the Documented Life Project...

 

 

The prompt for week 5 was "beneath the surface," using the "under-paper" (the paper that you work on top of to protect your desk)...I just love using layers and layers of "stuff"...spray inks, dictionary pages, paint, stencils, scrapbooking paper, stamped tissue...and as I "throw" these pieces together, I think about the layers of our selves, of our lives...how they can be messy (or not), but they work together to make us who we are...that's it...that's just a bit of the "processing" that goes on while I'm "playing" on my pages...nothing heavy...just interesting...

write more!

Lots of "pen play" going on here as I work on developing  more lettering classes...
     (classes for The Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville, and for Sierra College Community Ed.)

It's tough, but somebody has to do it...teehee...  :)
I absolutely LOVE these Zig markers by Kuretake...seriously! They are like magic...just playing with them, I'm creating some super fun alphabets.  These markers are the Calligraphy, Calligraphy II, and the Journal & Title...fun toys to add to your toybox...just sayin'...
Have a great week-end!  :)

rehearse and believe

Playing with washi tape...

 

I created a flap-hinged with washi tape on both sides of the cardstock-



 

 

 

I love everything about art journaling...obviously!!! :)...the fun of it as well as the significance it can have-when I need/choose.  This page is an example of needing to focus, remember and rehearse truth...practicing mindfulness on the page...it's a good thing.  :)

 

on the pages

More pages from my summer journaling...

 

 

 

 

The processing really IS more fun when I'm "playing" on the pages of my art journal.

 

"playing" and processing

The last "official" day of summer...wow...it has come and gone so quickly...I have been (of course!) sneaking in moments of journaling time when I have been able...I thought I would share some of what I have been "playing" with...

 

 

..."playing" with Tombow water-based markers and a water-brush, Distress Stains by Ranger, Prang watercolors, stencils, and my trusty Sharpie pen..."playing" and processing...