TREES

Art Journal

Mixed Media

All I can say is that the crazy left page....led me to the TREES....which I love.  The layering in the background is what really gives this picture...life.  The more you experiment...the better!  

"Pearls" from Jessica Helfand

I was glancing at my inspiration bulletin board last night and came across an article I had pinned by Jessica Helfand called:

 Life on 

THE PAGE

I don't know what magazine I tore it from as the identifying information is not there.  Jessica Helfand has a wonderful book called Scrapbooks:  An American History.  I have a copy.  It's not scrapbooking as some people think of "scrapbooking"....I'm going to give you an excerpt from the article.  The book, by the way, is fabulous...very inspirational.  So, here goes...hope you're inspired:

"I travel everywhere with a little notebook, double-stick tape, and a date stamp.  That's all you need.  A few months ago a giant dragonfly, which had lived for a very long time in my studio, dropped down on the table, dead.  I was fascinated by its wings; they're so rarely--if ever--not in motion.  I taped it into my sketchbook; it resembled a piece of delicate brown lace.  I know some people don't trust their ability to express themselves in words, but if they grab something and paste it down in a scrapbook, they can make sense of their life as it changes.  The gesture--not just saving something in a box but cementing it into place, saying, "I was here, this happened, here's the date"--that's really what it's all about."

Now this article is no longer on my inspiration board...it's slipped into a clear pocket in the back of my latest art journal...all about my "artful journey." To say I love art journaling...is an understatement...

JUNK MAIL JOURNAL

July 26

Tusk & Cup Fine Coffee

 where a handful of artists met

to share their talents...

I have never made a junk mail journal....but I

had so much fun doing this!  The pages in the journal are

from business ads, restaurant mailers, envelopes, computer paper....

I'm giving you the page by page

so you can see how fun it is.  

Created from Junk Mail

The cover is from a grocery bag 

and part of a cardboard 

coffee cup holder with the 

Tusk & Cup logo

The bee is a rubber stamp

 The inside cover

I added a tag w/ a paper bead, and photos of

sunflowers I took a couple of years ago

and a napkin sunflower added at bottom

On the left I covered the page with

a piece of scrapbook paper and

collaged a flower from a napkin

and stamped the bee

On the right I had this wonderful little piece

that I glued to an envelope, "Be gining"

On the envelope on the left, I

slipped a piece of printed paper

into the window and stamped a coffee cup

top and bottom ( it says coffee right below

the word Up)

On the right hand page is a piece of advertising

from Paris with a map and I added the words

"Choose your own adventure...."

On the left is an ad from H & R Block

and over it I collaged a copy from a piece in

one of my other journals and added the border top

and bottom

On the right is an advertisement from

a restaurant.  The art was already nice on

this so I left it as is

On the left is the back side of the

restaurant mailing to which I added the

lobster and the border pieces, top and bottom

On the right is a really nice napkin with

lots of fruit on it and I took a piece of

scrap paper sheet music and stamped

the pear and added it to the page

On the left is a nun (obviously) carrying

a can of paint and I added the checkerboard scrap

and stamped the left and right side like a keyboard

also added a piece of webbing that is meant for...Halloween

On the right is a painting of a pig that I like

 Here I've added a page for notes and 

half of a paper doily

 This is the center of the book

with the doily and another piece of

art from another journal, cut with a 

scalloped edge

The other side of the doily and on

the right I collaged the heart, words and the

lovebirds at the bottom

On a piece of mail that says "Grand Opening"

at the top, I added this photo of the beautiful stained glass

window in a cathedral I had saved from a NY Times...

and to my own amusement and, perhaps irony, it

lists the "business hours" at the bottom

On the right is a small manila envelope that 

I stamped and taped with the polka dot tape to the page 

and when you flip the envelope over....

I glued a photo I had saved from a magazine

of this old, beautiful door and on the right

I glued to the other half of the H & R Block ad

a business card of someone who makes handbags 

out of books and there is some green grass 

tissue paper, a rubber stamp of a vine and a 

small piece (vertically) of flowers

 On the left is a photo from a magazine

of some beautifully done plates...

I happen to like the artist and on the right

is the other half of an envelope.  I put

a card in the window that says "Life Is Good"...we've

all seen that expression on t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.

and I added the bicycle stamp and doodled 

a bit on it

 The disk on the left is collaged to

the back of the envelope.  It's a piece I found in

my stash of part of a napkin that I put on the disk...a 

great find for this piece and on the right is an architectural 

drawing of an estate

and last but not least....

On the left I painted the paper, made

a pocket with the other half of the cardboard

cup holder and stuck in a "Tusk" debit card

and on the right just finished it with my name.

Ok....I can't wait to do another one!!!!

BE COOL....

Art Journal

When It's Hot Outside...Be Cool!

Acrylics, Collage

I have gotten so much done inside my house these last couple of days....because it's too HOT to be outside.  I also had time to do some art.  The left side...

 

is a piece of scrapbook paper and I added the zig zag with the words, and in the same paper, I cut the shape of a glass and inserted a plastic straw.  The right side shows two lids from Sanpellegrino drinks which I glued on to an area I added some paint to.

 This page just feels cool...a place to sit and eat berries with a view of the sea...cool blues, white floor, white table. Very simple.

It's For The Birds

 

Art Journal

Acrylics, Joint Compound, wall repair tape,

collage papers, pen, tissue paper, printed tape

There are a lot of layers on these two pages.  First, a layer of gesso so the paper could take any abuse I applied.  Then matte medium to glue down a layer of printed tissue paper...of which it's barely visible....only I really know that it's there.  It was from a box of Grasshopper  brand shoes and the paper had green grass and plants on it.  I have some left and I would use it again....but then I could always go and buy another pair of shoes to get more of the tissue paper!

Then I applied joint compound...it's very thick so I used my palette knife.  Once that dried, I applied a coat of matte medium to seal it, and hopefully, keep it from flaking over time....I then added background color.  I was concerned about the center where the spine connects, and decided to use some wall repair tape...again to keep the joint compound from flaking because that's where all of the opening/closing of the book is.  Down the center is some printed tape.  After all of that was done....I wasn't really sure what I wanted the subject of the pages to be!  It was Friday night...then I had my inspiration.  Friday night is considered the first "date night" of the weekend and I decided to do birds.....birds decked out in their finery.  Lots of colors and patterns. Dressed to impress!

 

FINGERPAINTING

ART JOURNAL

Acrylics/collage

These pages are all about the color.  I didn't use a paint brush, just my fingers to move the paint around.  In small print under the word "Mood" it says...."using colors to indulge the senses"....and that's what I did here.  I have added bits of different papers here and there, a business card from a person who does tree work...calls himself The Tree Guy...I think Van Gogh painted nature...unbelievably....his paint strokes...the newspaper article on him is from our local paper.  He still inspires us today....

 

WORD JOURNAL- ALTERED BOOK

I don't think I've made any additions to this book in probably a year, but for whatever reason, I made an addition today.  The word I chose to illustrate is:

SWATCH

Fabric swatches are remnants from my neighbor's quilts.  They provide a lot of color to the pages.  I've also added some buttons and the little metal scissors on the right-hand page actually open and close!  There's also some acrylic paint and rubber stamps.  There is something to be said for taking a class now and then because it can spark your creativity and I guess I was still in that mode after last night's class.  Back to work tomorrow.....creativity on hold....

See the scissors...

 

Paint & Wine Class #4

Skyline

Acrylics on canvas

Saturday night was the monthly Paint & Wine class.  The picture we were basing our painting on was a skyline of black buildings, with a red sky reflected in the water.  Everybody does their own version and I chose to reflect buildings with lots of lights and more blue sky.  I also added the walkway at the left with the street lights.  This was my 4th class, and this is the first painting that I've done that I actually like....but the subject appealed to me and that makes a difference. 

The Deep Blue Sea

Art Journal

Acrylics, Collage

Painting with cool shades of blue on a hot summer day.  I used pages of text from an altered book to paint the orange sea plant as well as the sea plants on the left side of the page and glued them into this journal.  There's a tiny little school of fish passing through....chillin' on a hot summer day.

We Were All Born To Shine

My mind is streaming....

I'm not usually up this late on a work night....

but then, I am taking the day off tomorrow...

My mind is in Friday night mode....

only it's still just Tuesday....

and I've been up since 5:30....

My son stopped by this evening...

and our conversation inspired my art tonight....

We spend years teaching our children life's lessons....

and then they come back to you....

and teach you what they've learned....

We were all born to shine

It's time to turn out the lights

 

My Independence Day Flag

It's A Grand Old Flag

Art Journal

Pen, ink, rubber stamps, acrylics

 

Details are hard to see here, but these pages are all about our freedoms...to live, love, worship, read, listen to music, get an education, live where you want, vote, take vacations....the short list of why we celebrate on July 4 and everyday.

Still Life

Altered Book

"Still Life"

Collage/painted background

It's been a hectic week with no time.  I'm posting this just because....I loved the photo of these fish when I saw it so I cut it out and glued it to this page that had a background using my Gelliart plate. (This was only half of the fish photo, so you may see the other half in another post).  The paint chip color says "Still Life"....thus the name of this post.  Simple.  These fish are kind of ...red, white & blue.....don't you think?  I just can't get away from those colors....

Searching for the Light - Printed!

I've been doing art journals and altered books now since the summer of 2007.  I love this art form.  You can paint in them, draw, collage, write, try lots of different mediums and express yourself so differently than you would if you were doing a larger canvas.  For me, it's instant gratification.  If something's on my mind...2-3 hours sitting at my art desk....I can complete what's on my mind.  Sometimes I have a very clear vision of what I want to do....and sometimes I sit there and look at the journal and hope the inspiration will come.  If I don't have the time to capture what I'm feeling in that moment...it's often lost.  It's hard to explain. 

Having this blog where I can pull things together from the different books I am working on at the same time...is great.  Some of the postings have been more important to me than others.  I have often thought on many occasions about how I could "capture" my blog in print so that if I ever let the blog go...the things I had to say would be saved.  So now I have it! 

 Believe it or not, I ordered it earlier this week and it came today...unbelievable.  I have Sharon Tomlinson to thank....one of my favorite artists.  I just happened to be visiting her blog where she said she was waiting for her blog book in the mail!  And she provided the link for a discount coupon that expired the very day I was looking at her blog.  Serendipity.  

The paper is nice quality and I'm really happy with it.  I could have spent more time choosing the cover and such...but that wasn't as important to me as making sure I've saved what's inside.  It literally took me 15 minutes to choose and order this book! 

I was concerned that the photo size I chose might be too small....but it's not at all....and if you go larger...the price goes up.  

The company I ordered this from is SharedBook.  If you want to save your blog...go for it!  I have every single posting in this one book...close to 500 and the book has 214 pages in it.  You could do one year at a time...depends how much you post!  You can put a dedication in and even a table of contents if you like....lots of options....but most importantly, my blog is saved!

 

SCRAPS

Altered Book

Looking at the surface of my workspace this afternoon....I realized I didn't have a workspace!  Left on the table were pieces of this and that...some chosen for a potential page and then left behind.  Being too lazy to put them in folders that made sense for possible future use....I decided to do a "Collage in Blue".  

I grabbed some blue paints and covered the background pages.  On this page I glued a paint chip sample and a piece of fabric.

This page includes a small photo of a beach house, a blue & white stripe umbrella, a tag from a gift, an "I Voted" sticker, a photo of blue & white pillows and the Blue Sky Vodka label comes from a gift I received...not vodka, but a blue glass star made out of the bottle!  TGIF!