LAST POST OF 2012

WATER SOLUBLE

CRAYONS

 I've forged ahead and these are the next 2 pages in my new art journal.  I wanted to play with the new water soluble crayons I got for Christmas.  There is nothing that compares with the richness of color that these crayons provide.  I started by just making the circle marks with a pencil and then I started coloring them.  It's important to put a good amount of the crayon on the paper to get this richness.  Once you dip your flat paintbrush in water and start moving the color around...it's a wonderful feeling!  Hard to describe, but it just feels lush as you're doing it.  

When I opened this journal, it had a spot inside the front cover that said it was a trav-e-logue.  And while I'm not hopping a plane and going somewhere, this book has started out as a journey of sorts.  It's my heART and soul journey.  I saved the white circle for SOUL.  

 And I have more words of wisdom from John O'Donohue....I could do this whole book using his quotes!  "Your soul knows the geography of your destiny..."  See...it IS about travel...a journey.....

and the rest of it says...

 (if you can't read the type,  click on the image)

If I wanted to, I could fill this entire book with just shapes using these crayons...boxes, triangles, hearts, whatever.  You don't have to be able to draw to create art that appeals to you.  Who knows, I may add more to this art...don't know, but that's it for 2012.  Be true to your ART and your SOUL.

TIME IS PRECIOUS

New Art Journal

 I like the opportunity to start anew...why do we always wait a whole year?  I am starting a new art journal (not an altered book) and on the inside cover, I put a light colorwash in the background and then printed a map of my hometown which I then glued to the page.  I also glued the word "Pilot", which is part of the name of our local, weekly newspaper and, I put it in the book to remind myself....I am the "pilot", I am steering my own ship so to speak.  I also stamped the word HOME and added a heart to the "O".  The juxtaposition of the "ME" is intentional.  On the opposite page, I also added a light colorwash, some rubber stamping, etc.  At the top of the page was the inspiration I needed to sit down and start and it says:

"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book.

 Write a good one."--Brad Paisley

This quote was the LOM (line over the masthead) in our local paper and enough inspiration to get me moving.  Then there is the wonderful poem For The Artist At The Start Of Day,  from the late poet, John O'Donohue.  If he can't inspire you....well, nothing will.  I blogged this poem recently, but I needed to find a home for it in my book.  I also added the clock and wrote...Time is precious--Don't waste it....

I've heard too many sad stories in these last couple of weeks in  2012.  Too many people having hard times.  Am I more aware of them because I'm "older and wiser" so to speak and beyond an age where it's more "all about me?"  Clearly, as you get older....your perspective on life comes more into focus.  So, I can't procrastinate about doing my art because today is the only day we know we have and we might not have another opportunity.  Time is precious...Don't waste it.

The Day After...DECLUTTER!

Altered Book

This is the kind of day it is here.. gray, some snow.  Kind of cozy.  I was sitting at my drafting table and right outside the window is a tree that looks something like this.  I painted the background  pages a light gray, I added snow falling.  I had a stencil with large stars which I used with white paint.  There's a lot of silver on these pages...unfortunately it doesn't appear that way.  There are 3 silver snowflakes that I glued on and one star that has some bling.  And a beautiful piece of ribbon.  There's also some silver on the pages edges.  I outlined the white stars with silver "painted stitches".  This photo just doesn't show the detail!  I also have some white tissue paper with silver flecks across the bottom. And there are silver dots all over the pages.....Happy day after Christmas to all....

I spent the day re-organizing and cleaning my creative space.  I can't find anything...where's my bone folder when I need it or my hole punch or that great quote that I know would be perfect for this page??!!! It's so frustrating.  It's so hard to figure out the best and most efficient way to organize my art supplies so I can find what I want when I need it.  Declutter, declutter, declutter.  The thing is...in order to do mixed media/collage...it requires saving lots of ephemera...the flotsum and jetsam of art!  Everyday is a new opportunity...

All Hearts Come Home for Christmas

Art Journal - RED Book

I started working on these pages yesterday....and everything was in greens and gold...and then it dawned on me that I was working in my RED journal...so I had to incorporate RED into these pages.  The collaged images are from an older Pottery Barn catalog...I just happen to like the musical candles.  I should have tried painting the image ... but I was too lazy. On the page directly above I started to do an image transfer and that failed miserably to the point where I was actually losing layers of paper from the page itself and I was afraid it was going to jeopardize the art on the previous page.   Soooo, I started building up the paper by adding layers of paper including another image transfer that the candle is glued to.  There is also painting & stamping  And I had to add some RED elements...thus the hearts.  I have some fabric remnants from my neighbor's quilt-making and I sewed two pieces together and glued the heart to the page.  And no matter where you are during the holiday season...even if you aren't at home...your heart will always be there.

As often happens when I do a journal page, after I've posted pictures of it, I find more things to add to it.  Usually, I don't redo the photo, but in this case, because of the tragedy that occurred in the neighboring town recently, I thought the additions were worth retaking the photo of the pages.

I found this piece of fabric that actually came from a candle that someone had given me and, as you can see, it has the words Pure & Good on it.  There will never be a better spot for that than on this angel page so I attached it, bottom left.  On the right hand page, I added the green ribbon, and a quote from our local, town newspaper which is from the President and it says...
"Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation."

Now I am done with these pages.  They feel complete.
 

Angels We Have Heard on High...

Angels We Have Heard On High

Altered Book

Unless you're on a desert island, with no access to phone/internet/carrier pigeon....you have heard about the tragedy that occurred here in CT this week.  The loss of innocent lives at an elementary school and we will probably never know why this happened.  

I went to a prayer vigil on Friday evening...these people are our neighbors in the town adjacent to us...how could this happen.  So...I've just kept busy, but I cannot stop thinking about them.  I've made lasagne; I made a meatloaf; I made a double batch of sugar cookies...did I mention I don't really like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen?  I went to church this morning and prayed some more.

But what I also needed to do....is mark this time the only way I know how...by putting something on paper.  The news reporters refer to these young school children as angels...and that is who they are.  So....I created an angel on the left side of the page and on the right hand page,  I collaged a napkin that has musical notes and I put blobs of pink & blue paint on top of it...those colors are beneath the surface.  I stenciled the numbers from 1 to 20 for the children we lost and +6 for the adults. On top of all of that, I stamped...Angels We Have Heard On High... If you believe...you know these children and the adults who lost their lives.... they are in a good place...the best place.  And that's what you have to hold on to....

There was no "plan" for these pages except that I needed an angel and I needed the numbers.  Some art journalers use lots of words but I just like to get my message across with images... Going forward, the hymn "Angels We Have Heard On High"....will forever have a special meaning for me...

PEACE Tree, aka Celebration of Light

I've added birds and birdhouses to my PEACE tree....I'm having more fun with this than the Christmas tree.

And I found a great shadow box frame for my soldier boy that I made last Christmas....In The Pursuit of Happiness....