SO DISORGANIZED!

Mixed Media

In my Journal

I'm going to post some photos, probably not in the right order, but I had way too many on my smartphone and it was giving me messages that I was running out of space.  So....I just downloaded all of them to my computer, but my photos are not well organized.  The above piece includes a napkin, some ribbon, dyed cheese cloth, mini eggs, washi tape and watercolor.  As spring is here, at least on the calendar, ones thoughts turn to birds....

Drawing Class

Colored pencil on tan toned paper

I'm taking a drawing class and this tree turned out pretty well!  Now I am one of those people who is used to working fast, (which is why I like paint), but this class has taught me to slow down and really look at what I am drawing and lo and behold....I'm enjoying it!  My instructor, Cindy, is an amazing pencil artist and I feel very fortunate to have her as a teacher. 

Hand in my journal

"I think that I shall never see

a poem as lovely as a tree"....

Joyce Kilmer

I try to include my hand in all of my journals and since my focus has been on nature and trees in my drawing class, I decided to incorporate a tree inside my hand.  Around the fingers I have written some of the words to Joyce Kilmer's 1913 poem, Trees. 

Nature Drawing Class

This little 5 x 7 drawing is from my current class.  It fits just right in my art journal so I glued it in.

Found art at my library

I've been working in the "back room" at my local library, where we accept books on a daily basis for our annual book fair, which is huge.  It's so much fun seeing what comes in....and what gets left behind in books such as these cute little paper dolls I found recently.  Now I could not throw these away so they found a home in my journal...

I painted a child-like background and glued the paper family into the book and attached a note about my "found art".  They make me smile.

A monkey and Captain Kangaroo

Ideas for my art and journal pages come from so many different places.  I found a post card in a donated book at the library.  The post card was of a painting called the Death of Jack...Jack is a monkey....a scary looking one at that.  But he reminded me of an earlier time when I used to watch Captain Kangaroo as a child and on occasion, he had a monkey on the show....she was cute and wore a dress and would sit on his shoulder.  I thought it would be fun to have a monkey as a pet....so there's my painting and on the left, a cuter monkey than the one on the postcard.  The monkey page is done in watercolor pencil and watercolor.  I attached the postcard to the journal (on the right), but not visible here.

Snail Mail in my journal

Dianne (my sister) and I have been exchanging some snail mail recently and the above is her March missive.  I loved what she did on her envelope and added it to my journal, coloring the space around the envelope and adding some small yellow flowers here and there.  She also had the quote about art....I love the whimsical look of her art.

Package from Japan

I recently ordered some washi tape from an Etsy shop in Japan and it came wrapped so lovely!  The Japanese do things with such care....

Included was a nice little note thanking me for my order as well as some samples to try that were wrapped around this plastic piece.  I can see how people can become addicted to washi tape as it comes in so many patterns and is a nice addition to journal pages.

OK, this is enough to catch me up on what I've been up to creatively.  Love working in my journal!