Can't find my groove today....
too many distractions and interruptions...
so I sat down and enjoyed a few quiet moments,
and journaled a page.
It helped a little.
There are so many things I WANT to do,
but too little time keeps me from starting anything.
My studio has been changed around a bit.
Moved in another table for work space.
I love having more room, and having it clean.
This usually can get me in the mood....
I watched some videos on recycling a
calendar into a journal. I cut up jeans
while I thought about the process of
sewing paper and fabric onto paper....
I seem to have misplaced the calendar
I had in mind to experiment with.
Pulled out some old photos, and my boxes of
my kids photos, and ephemera from their school days.
So many thoughts flying around my head....but
I can't concentrate, so I surrender for now.
I'll sleep on it, and the mood will strike.
In the meantime, I have been filling a cool box
I found at yard sale with cards I have been
collecting. It's almost filled.
I think I will enjoy making a journal filled
with mementos, old photos, fabric, laces and trims etc...
but I guess today wasn't meant to be.
So maybe I'll sketch and doodle to clear my head,
and unwind a little...
I really enjoy sketching with graphite pencils!
I am inpsired by DJ Petit, and sketched
this drawing (below) after admiring her work.
I knew I wouldn't be able to reproduce
her in paint, but I tried.
This was painted with transparent layers
using matte medium. I especially loved
the way the background turned out.
I actually like both versions.
The painted one reminds me of an actress
on Grey's Anatomy......
The drawing reminds me of a cashier that
works at the grocery store where I shop!
I also tried to sketch a Petit Doll,
and no matter what I do, or how hard I try,
I always end up with something totally different.
Once again, I could not reproduce the original,
but it was fun trying!
I used wax pencils, and watercolor crayons on
watercolor paper, and cut her out and glued
her to the board with matte medium.
I think the sketching exercises are good practice,
and I have discovered that I REALLY enjoy sketching faces.
I'm guilty of being a hoarder.
My grandmother (memere) raised
6 children during the depression.
She never learned to drive,
and she walked everywhere.
She taught me how to sew on
a treadle sewing machine (circa 1940's)
She would look at a dress in the store,
and sketch the pattern in her head on
paper shopping bags, and sew her version
with what ever fabric she had on hand.
She sewed all her own clothes.
It was a necessessity.
So somewhere along the lines,
her habits were passed on to my mom,
and I learned to save "everything".
To this day, I even put my thread snippets,
in a pot, and eventually I'm able to stuff
a pillow, and you wouldn't even know it!
So these 4" thick books were going
into the recycle bin at work.....
The paper is tissue thin...and my inner muse said
"take that home and experiment with it!"
What the heck, you add layers anyway!
So here is where I share my most recent
book purchases, and can say I believe I'm
experiencing a stimulation overdose!
"Stitch Alchemy" by Kelli Perkins
is a must have for learning about combining
fabric + paper for mixed media art.
"COLLAGE UNLEASHed" by traci bautista is
equally as exciting, and also a must have!
I couldn't resist purchasing the Jan/Feb issue of
Cloth*Paper*scissors,
and I'm so HOOKED on this magazine!
Where have I been?
Seriously I don't know where to begin,
but I'm delighted that I have bags of
material scraps just begging to be used.
A new way to crazy quilt.
I wonder what memere is thinking
about this mixed media madness?
I think it's crazy wonderful!
Meanwhile, after absorbing all this new info on
journaling, and doodling, I decided to experiment
with these inexpensive water color pencils I picked
up at a Scrapbooking shop.
I found them to be very pastel.
I traced a Terrye French pattern in my
water color book, and found it was so much fun.
I colored in with the pencils,
and used a wet paint brush to push and move
the color around where I wanted it.
So different from painting with acylics;
base - shade - highlight.....
So while I was watching a video on
Artistic Journaling with Jodi Ohl,
I kept glancing at my pastel snowman, looking cute
and pretty with alot of bare space, and just started
doodling my thoughts with pens and markers.
I was late for work that day.
Man that felt good!
So my plan is to also experiment with some
creamy oil pastels, and my neocolor watersoluable
pencils...along with creating some cloth paper,
and adding wild dribs and drabs of paint to it,
and then there's those children's books I primed
with clear gesso that need to be sanded....
ready to add paint, collage and journaling....
...and did I tell you I'm seriously having a
stimulation overdose?
or perhaps I'm suffering from a form of
artistic attention deficit disorder-
"a whirly-gig of frenzied activity,
easily distracted by extraneous stimuli".
Whatever!
ARt makes me happy.
With Easter coming early this year, I am
inspired with thoughts of bunnies and hares...
Since I never work with blue, it's the color I started with,
and carrots go with bunnies, so I added orange.
I didn't have a design in mind, and the hare
was the only element I started with.
Everything else just evolved, and I love it!
It will make a great candle mat, or
a shelf liner....and measures 15" x 5"1/2".
This lovely book is a gift
from my mom for my birthday.
The illustrations are so awesome!
I sure "Like what I get!"
Alice and March Hare:
Quotes: Alice in Wonderland
March Hare: …Then you should say what you mean.
Alice: I do; at least - at least I mean what I say --
that's the same thing, you know.
Hatter: Not the same thing a bit!
Why, you might just as well say that,
'I see what I eat' is the same as 'I eat what I see'!
March Hare: You might just as well say,
that "I like what I get"
is the same thing as "I get what I like"!
The Dormouse: You might just as well say,
that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing
as "I sleep when I breathe"!
I can't wait to the see the movie with Johnny Depp!!!!!
