New year, new endevours

I’ve been quiet for the last few weeks. Lots to do with the coming new year: Children off from school, my own job becoming hectic as well as some personal issues that resulted in getting myself hooked up to a heart monitor. (I’m fine, if you’re wondering). Anyway, lots of reasons why it was best to put the blog on an impromptu hiatus but I’m back and ready to kick off the New Year with some pretty cool things to share.  Two of these things I can’t currently share as I have to wait for the people involved to give me the okay but let it be said now that it is full of art and positive vibes and I’m excited to be part of it.

One of the things that I can speak on that I will be doing this year is hosting something on my blog as well as artjournaling.ning.com that will involve creating an art/visual journal out of a composition notebook. This of course is not a new concept but it’s been a long 7 month process of answering the question: Do I really need all this “stuff” to create something that holds meaning and is aesthetically pleasing to my eye? 

This is something I hold close to my heart.  When I asked the question, I was actually answering it for my daughter, who is a very creative soul. How can I look at a 10 year old and say, “Well, you’re going to need some gesso and some golden acrylics and if you’re going to get watercolors best to get the Winsor and Newton ones.  You can ask your parents to buy them for you, right?”  Obviously that’s not exactly encouraging or motivating. The same can be said for adults who perhaps are not brave enough or financially secure enough to justify buying expensive artist grade supplies. It’s a scary world out there, when certain industries have picked up on the fact that there is a market for those who enjoy journaling visually and have decided to make bank on it! What is a person to do?   I’ll tell you what you do – Ignore them all and do your own thing!  And that, my friends, is what I hope to encourage others to do.   So, stay tuned it’s going to get interesting up in here.

Daisy Yellow: Building a Rainbow - 5 Days of Color: White

Welcome my color acolytes (this is going to have to stop. I'm going to run out of  witty ways to welcome you. *laughs*)  Once again I am hosting a color for day five of our Building a Rainbow Challenge hosted over at Daisy Yellow. When you're done here, check out the Daisy Yellow blog to see my partner in crime for today, BLACK.

White is an interesting color as it is in fact the absence of color.  It is the symbol of purity and cleanliness. In some cultures it is the color of mourning. White can elude to the delicate, the gossamer and ethereal. It is the mist between worlds and the shorud that hides you from dreams. White is an alpha/omega color. It can be whatever it is that need it to be.

It is also the bane of my exsistence. Now, I have seen gorgeous, fantastic minimalist work done by photographers, artists and journalists. They are masters of the powerful message white can deliver when used correctly.  It's just not my color of choice.  So, this page was a true challenge for me.  I thought: What did I want to convey with this journal page? What feelings did I want to invoke?  I decided upon layers. I wanted to stay white on white but that the interest would be texture and layering.  I am not sure if I accomplished it to my satisfaction but I have to say that I did like the outcome.:







Some amazing inspiration via Flickr:

1. White Flower / Flower White / Macro / soft macro/, 2. White Daisy / Daisies -, 3. White Lotus Flower Macro / White on white / Lotus, 4. White Flower / Flower Macro / close up flower / closeup / nature / white / : IMGP4921, 5. Soft Macro - White on White - Azalia: IMGP6955, 6. White on white (on white), 7. nights in white satin, 8. white, 9. White, 10. white, 11. White shells, 12. white on white, 13. white sphere, 14. White blossom close up - IMGP6556, 15. white on white 06, 16. WHITE SANDS NATIONAL PARK

How did you incorporate white into your art today?

Daisy Yellow: Building a Rainbow - 5 Days of Color: Aqua

Welcome my color sentinels of the watery deep.  I am here once again to host a color for day three of our Building a Rainbow Challenge hosted over at Daisy Yellow. When you're done here, check out the Daisy Yellow blog to see my partner in crime for today, GREEN.

My entry for this color:

Oh, AQUA , How I love thee.  You are the color of my dreams floating in the ether. You are the waters of the Caribbean that beckons me in fantasies and the the patina of ancient stories that like to play out in my mind. I draw you out in intricate scrolls and elegant sweeping flourishes.  You are the roar of the sea as it crashes upon the shore and the cool smooth porcelain of my favorite tea cup. You are clam and serenity and my affection borders on obsession at times.  I might stray and find myself in the playgrounds of other colors but to you I will always return.  I just can't help it.

Do you love a color in this manner?  Let me know.

1. {121/365} aqua, jodi aqua, 2. Free Little Girl in Turquoise Sea Creative Commons, 3. aqua crinoline hazel atlas teacup, 4. aqua metal, 5. Aqua, 6. Aqua door - Trinidad, Cuba, 7. turquoise bricks, 8. Tiny Flowers, 9. I'm All Alone & It's So Cold, 10. aqua fence, 11. Aqua Skies , 12. Aqua, Green Wreath, 13. Rusty Bell, 14. Orange Koi ~ Turquoise Tile, Um Hmmm!, 15. i don't sleep, i dream, 16. purple martin

This is one of my favorite journal spreads from the lovely Ms. Juliana Coles. Her use of aqua with lavenders, greens, and sepia colors makes me think of an Atlantis where the sun dapples the watery deep.

Daisy Yellow: Build a Rainbow - 5 Days of Color: Yellow

Welcome color warriors to day two of our Building a Rainbow Challenge hosted over at Daisy Yellow. When you're done here, check out the Daisy Yellow blog to see my partner in crime for today, ORANGE.

Below is my own entry for this challenge:

What do you think of when your read the color YELLOW? When I think of the color, the thought  of the summer sun filtering through lush green leaves that stretch out into an expansive deep blue sky comes to mind.  I think of the way the sand radiates warmth against my skin or the tang of lemonade as it refreshes me on a hot day.  Colors are more than a visual. They can morph into sensory triggers.  A touch, taste or memory of something that lingers in the back of your mind.  So, today when you express yourself using this color - in whatever form it takes -  think of what it represents to you and then explore.  In the end, you might be surprised as to what comes out.

A little inspiration in the form of a photo mosaic courtesy of Flickr:

1. Yellow Rose - IMG_8490, 2. Yellow, 3. yellow 2, 4. guthrie theater yellow room minneapolis, 5. Yellow Pear Tomatoes 012, 6. Yellow Earth, 7. yellow river, 8. Yellow, 9. Yellow Pepper Redone, 10. Yellow sunshine, 11. Yellow multitude, 12. Yellow tulip quintet - Subtle changes, 13. Yellow is a smile, 14. yellow strings, 15. Yellow Wagtail 110418-081, 16. Yellow Fever

I find that yellow isn't a color I see with frequency lately in the land of art journals but look at how vibrant they are when used:

Page by Irmute at Flickr

or how they add the right amount of "pop" to a simple yet lovely spread:

Page by Lady Reynolds at Flickr

Technique Spotlight: Mirror Writing

Continuing on from yesterday's theme about incorporating your writing in ways that other people cannot easily decode, I wanted to show something I do on and off to great effect: Mirror Writing.

Mirror writing is formed by writing in the direction that is the reverse of the natural way for a given language, such that the result is the mirror image of normal writing: it appears normal when it is reflected in a mirror. It is sometimes used as an extremely primitive form of cipher. The most common modern usage of mirror writing can be found on the front of ambulances, where the word "AMBULANCE" is often written in very large mirrored text, so that drivers see the word the right way around in their rear-view mirror. (Cited From Wikipedia)

A famous example of this was Leonardo Da Vinci's journals. While no one truly knows why he wrote in this  manner some have suggested it was to hide his ideas from rivals. 

I love the concept of mirror writing and I do it regularly in my visual journals.  Below is a page I did a few months ago.  The mirror writing coupled with gesso gives the text an worn antique text feel..  This is another great way to add journaling to your visual pages when you're not comfortable writing. Tomorrow  I'll discuss another way to add your journaling into an art journal page in a way that isn't obvious.

Journal: Ideas Are Plentiful

As I have mentioned in another post, I love weathered, antique looking things.  I hints at an untold story waiting to be heard.  This spread, I was inpisred by this past weeks journal inspiration.


On this page  I prepped my pages with a base layer of collage ephemera covering it with a layer of off-white craft paint. To make the page even grungier looking, I spread flexible modeling paste here and there making sure to allow for uneven peaks where my burnt umber glaze could settle into.I then added splashes of green/blue acrylics around the page and printed pictures off of my android phone (the app I love using is called Retro Camera) which lent itself to that vintage look I was looking for.  I then journaled about my thoughts on how I wanted to be more consistent with my blogging and how I would accomplish that.

When gathering inspiration from somewhere else, ask yourself, "What do I like about this page?" this will pull you out of trying to replicate someone's work and instead have you focus on your own aesthetic voice allowing you to then apply it to your own work.

Mother Nature is not happy. WIP

Mother Nature is not happy., a photo by sirens_idyll on Flickr.

Mother Nature is not happy.

The Rabbit Hole

How far does the Rabbit hole go? As deep as the imagination allows.