A Peek

Here's a peek of part of a page from my altered book from the Dollar Store. It's one of those children board books that I sanded to get the gloss off and then threw on the Gelli Plate for backgrounds. I haven't decided what to write on this page yet so I'm just showing you the bottom half. I was in the mood for gel pens and lots of color. Stay tuned for the rest of it. Thanks for visiting.......................... I hope you come again...................jo

Dance of the Pumpkins- The Finale

I actually made a lot more little ones, but they didn't all make it to the photo shoot because some were given away, some started to get mooshy making little messes on the dining room table. I stamped, stenciled, gessoed, painted, collaged and doodled........Gel pens and sharpie paint markers worked well on the largest pumpkin. The smaller ones were ok but I found I had to use a lighter touch so as not to peel the paint off. I'm not sure if black gesso might have worked better than the quick black spray paint. Might have to try it again next year. Collaging in the round was a bit of a challenge. :) Thanks for stopping in..................................xoxoxo................jo

Be Nobody But Yourself...............

.................. and Creativity Comes From Trust ~ Rita Mae Brown This is another couple of pages from my overhauled children's board book from the Dollar Store. I gelli plate printed the background and used the faces I did on top of my 5 am Morning Pages. I am trying to play and experiment with lettering. All torn paper is from my art work. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for all your kind comments. ............. jo........................................I am linking to Balzer Designs Art Journal Every Day where there's a ton of good stuff. And Carolyn Dube's Gelli Plate Print party.

I Couldn't Help Myself- Part 3

It has been fun painting on something other than a flat canvas. Stay tuned. There is more................. Thanks for stopping in...............Jo

I Couldn't Help Myself - Part 2

There's a lot of gluing going on here. Same pumpkin......... different angles. All torn paper on this pumpkin came from my own art. Have you decorated or doodled your pumpkin today? Psssssst. Stay tuned. There'a more................... Thanks for stopping in....................Jo...................... I am linking to The Glue It Lounge at Aimee's Place once more because it's so much fun there...........

Couldn't Help Myself Once More.............

Same pumpkin from a different angle. Need I say more?........... Yes. I thank you for stopping by. Please do come again tomorrow for more surprises................xoxo jo

Do The Thing You Really Care About

It's not hard to decide what you want your life to be about. What's hard, she said, is figuring out what you're willing to give up in order to do the thing you really care about. ~Shauna Neiquist Back in June I took one of those glossy, hard back children's books from The Dollar Store and sanded the pages and then black gessoed it. Sometime later I took the pages and laid them down on the gelli plate in one of my crazy gelli plate sessions. I guess I lost track of photographing the entire process as I don't seem to be able to find any pictures other than when I first began. Here's one of the pages I began after gelli plate painting it with the beginnings of collage. The face is one from my 4:30am Morning Pages journal pages. Here it is finished. I hope you like it. I will have other pages in this short book to share with you. Thanks for stopping in.....jo **********************************I am linking to Julie Fei Fan Balzer's Art Journal Every Day and Aimee's place Glue It Tuesday. And Carolyn Dube's place for a colorful gelliprint party.

In Progress

My goal for the last several months has been to start working on larger canvases. I have done this and this which is a collaboration with MY MAN. Here is one more on 16 x 20 canvas that is in progress. My aim was bright color and lots of layers using as many tools and implements as possible. Here's a closeup of one section. What do you think? Thanks for visiting...and please do come again...................Jo

The Return of the Mojo and Doodling Pumpkins

After a couple of weeks off I have returned or my mojo has returned. I think I was in a state of "funk" as was my mojo. I cleaned up my studio and looked at all the art I have created. I tried not to be too hard on myself, tried not to feel too guilty for not blogging. I watched a lot of Netflix after work and just let things happen slowly without pressure. I missed being in my studio but nothing was happening. I happened to be in the produce section in the grocery store and saw a bag full of mini pumpkins. They were just too cute to pass up. But wait! My mojo told me I had to do something with those pumpkins other than put them on the dining room table. That same day I happened to check out Alisa Burke's blog. and see the amazing art she has done on pumpkins. That was enough to get me going. I went back to the store and bought a large pumpkin. Dabbed on some acrylic paint with a sponge. It wasn't working. The pumpkin was too slippery. I gessoed it in hopes that it would provide some tooth to hold the paint. It was ok until I started doodling on it. I then took it outside to spray it with black spray paint. It took a couple of days to completely cover it and let it dry. Then I started playing. Thank you, Alisa Burke for your inspiration. To all my bloggy friends, thanks for stopping in here and for all your kind comments. I have more to show you............................xoxoxo jo

Anybody Seen My Mojo?

I am struggling lately with.............. what? That I have a ton of things I have started and not finished? That I feel like I don't have enough hours in a day to do what I want to do with art? That I seem to be a bit overwhelmed with life at the moment? Feel mentally and physically fatigued? Unfocused but focused enough to know I am not focused. That I constantly struggle with the fact that my day job is not exactly soul fully rewarding but will keep a roof over my head? That I am feeling old? All of the above. Gosh! What a pity party I have come to! I don't have anything new to show you. I seem to feel I've accomplished very little lately. I feel like I lost my mojo and I want it back. Do you feel like that sometimes? What do you do? Wait and listen? Maybe I should try cleaning up my studio and start again. Maybe I shouldn't sweat this at all... If you see my mojo please send it home to me..............xoxoxo ................Jo