Happy New Year!!

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you can surprise yourself." ~ Neil Gaiman

New Year Coming

I added a bit more to this page in my jumbo sized journal. I just love the colors in here with my handmade stencil.

I used "Texture Fierro" something I found in a discount bin at Michael's many months ago and some compound joint tape from the hardware store to rough up some parts in gold and get some grid like dark areas.

I laid down the joint compound tape and then spread texture on top like buttering toast and then lifted it off, but left some areas with the tape on. The gold tear drop shapes are made from a stencil I made myself, as are the large flowers. I am also making a calendar in my journal. You've seen this page before, too.

I cut out 2x2 squares of photocopied pieces of my art and have it set up for the month of January. I can add a bit of something on each day which would be kind of cool to look back on.

I am ready for a new year. I am ready to begin again and anew. Thanks for all of your support, kindness and friendship. Thanks for being one of the reasons I keep returning here. The company is good in this community. Thanks for stopping by................Jo

Angels

I caught a few angels hanging 'round the tree.

He appears to be after something.

Slow down! Why are you going so fast?

May we all believe in angels. Thanks for visiting.......................................jo

Stuck on Tags

I don't know why, but I'm stuck on tags still. I certainly didn't have enough hours before Christmas to make all the tags I wanted so maybe that's the reason. Or maybe I should blame it on the Gelli Plate jumping out and telling me " play with me." I had so many tags I had to make a mini tag line from the door frame to the lamp over my work table.

I finished an art journal page.

Here's a closeup.

Thanks for stopping by.

If.............

If you've made an ornament you'll need something nice to mail it in. And of course you have to use glitter.

Thanks for popping in............................................jo

I Love Glitter

I played more today making tag/ornaments using some of my art journal pages. It's so cool how just a little bit of glitter can brighten something up.

I hope you are having a good day today. Thanks for visiting.

I've been absent. This time of year brings a myriad of emotions for many people including myself. I've found peace in my studio. I hope you are able to find some peace today.

Thanks for stopping by.

Three Letters

I sometimes visit and participate in a site where right now I am participating in a group called Three Letters. It was decided to write letters to three people about a favorite Christmas memory. I have the usual fun family Christmas memories, but the one that stands out in my mind from childhood is dancing in church on Christmas eve. Yes, I said, dancing in church. For those of you who have followed my blog for awhile know that my father was a Methodist minister. I grew up with dance used in worship. Anyway, I guess it was a big deal for me back then since I was the youngest dancer in a group of mostly older teenagers, and I wanted to be hip, slick and cool like them. So, for many years, on Christmas eve I got to be up late at the 11 PM candle light service processing down the aisle with lighted candles. It was really beautiful. It was there that I had my introduction to performing and the performing arts. That memory stays with me, especially at Christmas time. As I got older I also directed a dance choir or liturgical dance group which performed in upstate New York in many churches through out the year. My letters to three people told about that memory. I found some old onion skin typing paper(remember typing paper?) and set to work, hand writing three letters.

So these letters will be going to the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. There is something really beautiful about watching moving candle light in darkness. There was something really magical for me as a young girl moving that light. I am the one in the front at the edge of the altar, balancing on one knee, looking pretty serene, but probably trying really hard not to spill hot candle wax.

So, do check out Coach Creative space. I think there are a lot of very creative and supportive people there. Thanks for visiting............................jo

More Smashingly Smash Book pages...

My goal is to get this

finished by the end of the year or very shortly after. I just feel the need to get it finished. I have so many unfinished projects laying around the studio and it's really beginning to bug me. Here's a couple more pages.

If you had to leave your home in an extreme hurry what things would you take? What are your most important possessions? I decided I would grab family photos,my pets, my written journals, some art journals, maybe a few books, and as many art supplies as I could. And this one.

In my "spare moments" where nothing in particular is going on ( ha ha ha ha ha. AS if that ever happens) what do you think about? I think about all the ideas I have and the art I could be creating. It seems that all my ideas seem to come while I'm at work, which is good because I can sometimes quickly jot it down and email it to myself. But when I get home at the end of a work day, I often don't have the same kind of energy or energy at all because I have spent much of it already. Thank goodness for the weekends which, of course, go by far too quickly. I find that frustrating. What do you think about in your "spare moments?" Thanks for stopping by.................................................. jo

Fairy Godmother's Birthday Card

Four days ago I mentioned that I had made my "Fairy Godmother" a birthday card but I was not going to post it until she received it. She does read my blog,after all. That wouldn't be too fair for you to see it before she did. Here's the front of the card.

It's made with recycled painty baby wipes. Here's the inside- with fold out from recycled "Nut-Thins" cracker box, stamps paint, of course, and a few paper pieces of my original art, which you might recognize.

And here's the back of the card where you can see some of the lettering through the paint.

I was pretty happy with the way it turned out and so was fairy godmother. There's nothing sweeter than something hand made and the fact that you've made someone else feel warm and fuzzy. Over the next several days I want to share with you a few more pages in my Smash Overhaul book. So, please come again. Thanks for stopping by............................................jo

Thank Goodness

Thank goodness for coffee and Morning Pages to spill my crappy stuff on to. Thank goodness for faces to cover it up. Thank goodness for my knowing this helps me to start my day.

What do you do to empty your head? Do you use art? Thanks for visiting.

I Just Couldn't Help Myself.

My daughter was sorting through some of her boxes in her bedroom recently and came across an old sketch pad of hers from when she was a little girl. She was, at first going to throw it away, and I suggest she just might want to save it for "posterity." She put it, and some of her books on a downstairs book shelf and it was then forgotten about. A couple of days ago I had to lift up the sketchpad to use the dictionary. (Does anyone besides me still use a real dictionary?You know. The kind that you can hold in your hand? It seems to me I could have used the online dictionary but it was like habit to go get it. Anyway, I opened up Liza's sketchpad and I just couldn't help myself. Here is the earliest photo where I have begun to add color but you can still see the original outline of her sketch.

Here it is finished. Yes. I said finished. How many times have I said I don't know whether it's finished or not? This is finished.

Can you tell I had fun with this? This piece makes me smile- big time. Liza got lots of laughs as I sent her photos every time I would add something new to it. She loves it as much as I. So. I told her she would have to think about doing some more drawings before she started her new semester in college. In the meantime, in the lower right hand corner are both of our names as the artists. Stay tuned. My fairy godmother's birthday card is done but I can't show it to you until she receives it. She reads my blog so it wouldn't be fair for her to see it here first. Thanks for stopping by..................................................jo

This Morning

I wrote about Seth's open call for submissions back in April, of my deciding to bite the bullet, life is too short, maybe my art is not that good enough etc.etc. But I persevered and told the critics to take a hike.com. I am very excited to see my work here Thank you, Seth. Thank you for stopping by.......................jo

The Art of Being An Artist

I ran across this recently. It speaks volumes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Things Artists Should Be Thankful For Sylvia White September 22, 2011 Art of Being an Artist “Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind. ” Lionel Hampton By the time most artists come to see me, they are usually beaten down and depressed by the struggles of the artworld. They have been abused by their galleries, taken for granted by their collectors, misunderstood by their families and exhausted from juggling real life with creative need. It is so easy to forget how special you are, when there is no one around to remind you, but you. So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I give you my list of 10 Things Artists Should Be Thankful For. Print this out, fold it up and put in your wallet. Send it to your artist friends. Read it whenever you feel all your work is for nothing and you are thinking maybe you should just stop making art and grow up. Post it in your studio when you are wondering what the heck you are going to do with all this work? But, most of all…believe it. Remember, it is impossible to feel thankful and be depressed at the same time. 1. I am thankful that I am not one of the majority of people in this world that wakes up every morning, goes to a job they hate, just to come home and do it all over again. 2. I am thankful that when I am away from my studio, my ideas come with me, they keep me company everywhere I go. 3. I am thankful for this passion that gives me so much joy (and angst) but mostly joy. 4. I am thankful that when I have left this earth, I will leave something meaningful behind. 5. I am thankful that I have a mind that can not sleep, I will never be bored. 6. I am thankful that there is a part of my life that nobody can control, except me. 7. I am thankful that no one in the world can ever take this gift from me. 8. I am thankful that I am brave, it takes courage to pursue my gift. 9. I am thankful that I am never satisfied, it forces me to move forward and grow. 10. I am thankful I discovered this list! Pass it on

Thanks for visiting.

We Gather Together

The Chair is finished. I rather like it. I played around with photos of it today.

I hope you are enjoying this day. Thanks for visiting..................Jo

I was sorting through some computer art files recently and rediscovered some art I made when I got Carla Sonheim's Drawing Lab book at least two years ago. She has a chapter in it called Imaginary Creatures. Out of paint blots and marks, these creatures appeared.

Maybe I should name them. What do you think? Thanks for dropping in.....................................Jo