Artwork by Sarah Kiser

I love Sarah's art work....the layering she achieves is really great and her art is whimsical....which I love.  Check her out.

Give Me The Blues

Art Journal

Inspired by the Pottery Barn Catalog

I tore an entire page out of a recent Pottery Barn catalog that was all about the color Indigo, and glued it to the page.  I tore it out because I loved the pillows in it and wanted to save it...not necessarily alter it.  But...how could I put it in my art journal without altering it!  Well....I altered it, added a blue & white vase and also added some pillows from one of their summer catalogs.  The great thing about this is that I wasn't starting with a blank page!  I highly recommend it.  I added collage elements, paint and pen and water soluble crayons.  

 The opposite page I didn't do much to....just played with color.  Blue, red and yellow....my absolute favorite colors...

I love the names of "blue" colors....Indigo, Lapis, Periwinkle, Sapphire, Turquoise.....

Documented Life Project - Layering

Art Journal 

DLP - Layering

Acrylics, Pen, GelliArt, Collage elements, Fabric ribbon

It's February and bitter cold.  You can't do art journaling without including Valentine's Day...what else does February offer us?  The ground hog saw his shadow and we are screwed...pardon my French. The Documented Life Project encourages us to practice layering...that's what makes your pages interesting after all.  You can see a lot of writing "underneath" on this page.  I was reminiscing about Valentines of long ago.  It doesn't matter that the viewer can't read what I wrote but it does add to the entire look of the page.  

My nickname growing up was (still is) Queenie...Queen of the May when my birthday is so I have a letter popping out of the mailbox that says "Queenie, You've Got Mail."  There is a stamp on the mailbox that says "Royal Mail."  A few years ago I ordered a book by Florence Pickering...a British artist and it came in a padded envelope with that stamp so the Queenie kind of worked nicely with the Royal Mail....

A couple of close-ups of the page...

and another....

All of my pages have a lot of blue in them this year....there are just so many gorgeous shades of blue.   Lots of wind and snow outside....I'll have to head to the art room to distract me and pray we don't lose power.

For The Love of Birds...

Art Journal 9 x 12

Acrylics, Paint Pens, GelliArt plate

Watercolor pencils, Inktense blocks

In the dead of winter....which is where we are now....I miss the sounds of the birds singing.  Every now and then, I see a snowbird, a chickadee or cardinal fly by my windows.  Where are they hanging out?   The days are getting longer....can't wait to sit out on my kitchen stoop....it will be awhile longer.

Close up of the details...

and more...

Before and Before and After

Art Journal

Layers and Texture

Gesso - a noun, a verb, a life-saver!

I'm starting this post with the "finished" 2-page spread.  Finished is in quotes because are you ever really "finished"?  I go back to my pages and often tweak after I've already posted.

This spread started out looking like this....

I just didn't like it at all, on many levels. ....this is where you have that conversation with yourself...if it's going to annoy me every time i open the journal....something has to change.  So I covered it in gesso.....

That muted everything.  Got to love gesso. Here are a couple of close-ups of the pages...

In the end, I love the colors and the shapes and the texture...I like the feel of the paper when I touch it.  I like the flecks of gold.  Done.  Happy Sunday.

A COLOR EXPLOSION...

ART JOURNAL

Acrylics

I went crazy with color this afternoon.  Outside, it's nothing but snow white and leafless trees....I needed the antithesis of that....thus the warm colors.  Yes...the portrait is supposed to be me...putting myself in the art.  

All I can say is that this was incredibly fun....I just kept going with more color, more dots, more, more, more.  FUN! 

Prayer Flag - Work in Progress

Send My Prayers on Wings of Angels

Acrylics, paper fabric, paper beads,

metal ephemera, muslin background

I am having so much fun doing this piece.  I have so many ideas for prayer flags!  I've always considered my art journaling a meditative process.  It allows you to dig deeper into yourself and express yourself in ways that it's hard to explain.  Lent is just around the corner and I'm working with a friend to introduce prayer flags as a Lenten practice at my church.  I'm not preaching religion here as I think everyone's spiritual side is very personal.  Creating prayer flags is a way of getting in touch with both my creative side and my spiritual side.  

On the flag above, the first thing I did was to paint the background.  (the ephemera isn't sewn here yet...just getting an idea of placement).

 The words on this flag just came to me and I immediately wrote them down because I knew I would forget this thought.  So the phrase came first.  The wings I bought at an art workshop from a vendor and they've been in my stash, just waiting for the right time to bring them out.  The angel's dress is made from paper fabric.  I made this a couple of years ago.  It's using tissue paper (already printed) and muslin and bonding it to create the paper.  I sewed some beads to the skirt.  

I rubber stamped the words to the muslin and stitched the pieces to the art.  

Lastly, I sewed the metal ephemera to the piece and added some extra gold stars with a rubber stamp.  The lower part of the painted background has metallic paint in it.  The paper beads are made out of magazine covers.  Easy to do while watching TV!  Not only that, but you can write a few words on a piece of paper and roll it up into the bead....a private place to keep your prayer(s).  How I'm going to finish this off, I haven't decided yet.