Lifebook 2014 Continued

Yesterday I began to show you my final Lifebook project, which was a year long on line workshop full of a variety of artists, techniques and themes. I am showing you the work that I did. One of the earliest lessons was for us to decide what we wanted more of in the new year. I wanted more peace...........in my life and also the world. One of my favorite lessons was Tam's quirky Animals on a Totem Pole. This was also a drawing lesson, drawing animals in a quirky, whimsical style that represented the feelings/emotions we felt at that moment. So, at that moment, this is how the animals spoke to me or represented how I was feeling at that time. The elephant is the largest, strongest carrying all the weight and we all know that responsibility is a heavy load. The donkey, ass, burro is often a work animal. Hmm.. Guess that says it all. The cat is the relaxed, peaceful one, with not a care in the world. The ox is yet another work animal. And lastly, the bird on the very top is the lightest and can fly away and leave it all behind. This lesson was fun, playful and I got to experiment with expression and color with the neocolor caran d'ache water color crayons. You can see this page is an odd size. I think it was half of sheet of water color paper. Moving on...........Traci Bautista's lesson was also fun. I am drawn to her style of messy, grungy, graffiti style. She always uses an amazing color palette and encourages using found objects for making mark making. This was my response to her In the Moment lesson. So, there you have a few more. There's more to follow. Thanks for stopping in.

Glue Gun Stencils

One of the things I played around with in my absence from this blog was to try and make some stencils with a hot glue gun. I'd read about it on Traci Bautista's web site awhile back and had attempted it without much success. I decided to try it again. I figured out with my heat gun you have to lay the glue on pretty thick. It was trial and error. Here's one that doesn't yet have paint on it. This one gets a bit better. Then I grabbed a piece I'd done weeks ago on the gelli plate and added some black stenciling and tried the glue gun stenciling on top with bright red paint. I like it. Did some more playing on a paper towel with two stencils and two colors. Then I tried it on a deli paper gelli print. I like the organic "ness" of them. It takes some patience (for me) and practice to coordinate the squeezing out the glue from the gun and drawing the design at the same time. I understand there are some changeable tips on some glue guns, and mine look somewhat heavy handed but I like them nonetheless. Have you tried to make these? Thanks for stopping in.

In The Moment

I am making my way through Lifebook 2014. I say making my way but not doing every single week's project. Some weeks I just plain miss or skip. One of the week's was Traci Baustista's class called In the Moment. I did this at least a few week's ago by now, but what I remember most about this, which is why I like her work, is it was very relaxed, very messy. She really encourages play and play with found things in which to make marks. There is so much out there in terms of stamps and stencils today, it almost feels like sometimes that one is made to feel one's art is not complete or as good as when you use the latest stencil or stamp. Don't get me wrong. I love stencils and stamps but it gets to feeling so commercial. I would rather make my own or find my own mark making things. That's what she encourages and demonstrates. I also like the grungy, sort of graffiti look in her art. To me, it's just plain fun and simple. Here is my take on her assignment. I am trying to hang on to that "in the moment feeling." Trying not to plan, look too far ahead, or worry about the outcome. I think it works sometimes, but not always. Sometimes, in your heart, you just know, when something's not right. Thanks for stopping by.

Forever Is Composed of Nows. ~ Emily Dickinson

This piece is a result of Danielle Daniel's class over at Lifebook 2014. called Honoring your Inner World. Another reminder to stop and slow down and breathe. These weekly postings really come up quickly but so far I've managed to stay up on most of them. I think the colors in this piece are different for me. I didn't think too much about it, but tried to just let the background become itself. I I like the pose of the woman. It reminds me to breathe and calm when I look at her. And this one was inspired by Traci Bautista, who is full of "grafitti glam." Seriously, I like her style. She is big on mark making using things you find around your house kind of tools. I had fun with this and these are my colors. Thanks for stopping by.