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.

Lifebook 2014

Last year I gave myself a present by taking a year long on line workshop called Lifebook. Created by Tam Laporte, Lifebook was rich in a variety of teachers presenting a variety of styles, techniques, and themes. I did not do every single project as some quite simply did not resonate with me. But there were some that I thoroughly enjoyed and learned a lot from. Last year I shared a few of those pieces as I was doing them, but I wanted to show you what it looked like in book form, or should I say my attempt at putting it in to a book. I am not a book binder, I haven't had the patience at times to attempt it, even though I know there are many ways to do it. I found my challenge was in having so many different sized papers made it hard to bind. I knew that I would not have the patience to coptic stitch this book together so thought binding it with binder rings would be ok but I was not happy with the end result. Perhaps down the road I can figure out how to better attach these pages together but for now, here are some of them. I had to find/make covers that were large enough for the largest papers. I ended up using the box that I had originally been storing my projects in as I completed them. You can see the hole I originally punched on the left side above the red ribbon and you can also see the holes in the upper side as I had changed my mind in the direction of how to open this book. Moving on. This was sort of a warm up exercise. We were to choose a word for the year. Originally my word was forgive, but I found it did not feel right to me, so I changed it to forward. Forgiveness or to forgive allows one to move forward. So this sort of guardian angel was there to remind me of that as I journeyed through the year. The next one was again, an exercise. The last one I'll show you today is from the wonderful Carla Sonheim's lesson where we made an envelope in which to put the imaginary creatures that sprung from paint blobs. More to show you tomorrow. Thanks for visiting.

Inktense Morning Pages

Those of you who have followed me for awhile know that I get up early in the morning- like 4:30am. This came about because this sweet boy has to pee at that time. I start the coffee brewing, run him out, feed him and give him his insulin, feed the cats, fix me a rice cake with peanut butter and my coffee and settle in on the couch for my writing of my Morning Pages. (Julia Cameron. The Artist Way etc.)Over the years of Morning Pages I have also learned I can create art on top of the pages. I have previously mentioned that I bought myself some of these for Christmas. I have to tell you these are my favorite art supply right now. The color IS intense. My Morning Pages writing is done on a cheapo composition notebook and the pages are pretty thin. I can easily throw down some gesso on top which not only covers up my writing but gives some strength to the pages. From there I lay some color down and can spread it quickly with a dry brush or slightly dampened. No. I did not do these all in one sitting. But I did lay down all of the background in one sitting, coming back on other mornings or evenings to add stuff. I think the fact that the color is so intense, I can use gesso as a paint to change the color, and that it dries so quickly is a plus when I am wanting something immediate- in a 30-45 minute segment, before I get myself started to start my work day. Yes, my fingers are messy with color before I head to the shower but it's such a nice way to start my day. For several weeks I have missed the partying going on over here where you can find a lot of pretty nice folks and some very cool art. I am also linking here where you will also have a good time. Thanks for visiting.

The Flu

I don't feel like I'm starting the new year out very well. I got the flu last week,for the first time that I can remember, despite that I got a flu shot. Yes, I know they said that it wasn't necessarily going to work for this year's strain. It came fast and hard for me. Imagine being under an electric blanket and still being cold. And I thought it was just lots of continuous hot flashes and the body aches were that I was another year older so maybe I was getting arthritis. No! It was the dog gone flu!! I can't remember the last time I slept as much as I did the first 2 days of this. I had to cancel my Saturday mixed media class AND a 90 minute massage that I got for a bargain price on Sunday. I went back to work today still not totally feeling my normal self y but I expect it will take some time to find my energy again. Already I want to take a nap and it's only 7pm here. I got some of these for myself for Christmas.I've been wanting these for a long time because the colors are intense. You know how I do my "Morning Pages" around 4:30-5am? Those morning pages of rambling, bitching, whining, moaning, complaining, dump everything on the table pages none stop important don't think about what you're writing just get it up and out stuff........??? I've been playing with these luscious color sticks on top of all this writing. Ok. No writing on that page. But here And here And one morning I got so into this I created a two page spread. Not bad art for still recovering from the flu yesterday morning. But don't you just love the color? I feel like I'm moving in to something different on these pages. AS I am looking back at these pages I have to tell you it feels fun looking at them. I mean it looks to me like I had fun doing them. I didn't plan them. I only wanted to play with color and lines. Do you find that when you don't plan something you end up liking it or not? Is the end result what you're after or do you already trust that you will like it in the end because you have trusted the process? Thanks for stopping by........ I hope you do not get the flu.

Be Nobody But Yourself

I am continuing to play in this Moleskine Journal, sometimes in the car in the morning before work. If I have laid down some gesso in the background at home, I can spread some color on with some water color crayons with a water brush or a baby wipe in the front seat of the car. Baby wipes are great for spreading larger surfaces quickly. When that baby wipe is full of color and when it dries I can also use that somewhere. I begin some journaling and eventually something will come to me that I want to collage. I find myself still drawn to using faces in my journaling, so this one came out of altering a face from a fashion magazine and the gown came from yet another magazine. I love recreating an entire new character. Call it my love of costume design in college or making paper dolls as a child. Maybe both. Day by day along with some brief journaling, a bit more drawing with watercolor crayons, doodling with paint markers and the page is full. I like it. And I am a firm believer that one should always be oneself all the time, not only in art. I am joining the party. You are invited!! Thanks for stopping by. Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!

I've been teaching a mixed media workshop at my local AC Moore on Saturday mornings. We've been playing on large pieces of brown paper. Just playing....with prompts and or suggestions ..... I have seen such growth. Check out some of the pieces and see the changes. Same piece after another session. How cool is that!! Here's another one. Which became this..... Here's one that really changed. It began like this. She was not feeling it. I mean, I think she was having a hard time moving on. I suggested she try some different colors, ones that she had never used before and that it was ok to cover anything up. She could always bring it back again. Check this out. Here she is- very much feeling it now. I love this!!!Here are some closeups and some other works in progress. That one is slightly out of focus. Sorry. But aren't those colors awesome? Notice that some of these are hung up. WE didn't have a lot of wall space in the craft room due to all the Christmas wreaths in the beginning so we had to make do with the outside of cabinet doors and big boxes that were leaning against the wall. Hanging the pieces up on the wall allows for a different view, and some of us are finding it allows for more freedom and playing when we are standing up. I am just so impressed with these wonderful creative women. I look forward to more good stuff during this new year. Happy Creating to all of you. Thanks for being here and for being so supportive. Happy New Year!!