For instance, I completed the Series 52 challenge with Jeanne Oliver in 2018, where we focused on art, in some form, every week, and posted it online in a group for 52 weeks. At the end we have a series of art to look back on. I actually made over 100 pieces of art, some complete, some works in progress, but, and although it took some doing, I focused and completed the challenge, also gaining confidence and experience in my art, so it was a success.
On the other hand, I signed up for the Paint Your Heart and Soul 2018 year long classes with Olga Furhman, which is absolutely wonderful, and I was doing okay with the weekly classes for the first three months, but my father-in-law, already in bad health, got really sick, was in the hospital, and passed away in February. Then, since I had neglected my dental health for so long, due to our parents' illnesses and deaths, I had a LOT of dental work to be done, which took all summer and fall. Point is, I got out of the habit of doing the classes, and as much as I enjoyed and learned from them, I haven't been able to re-focus on them. The classes are available for life, though, and I have printed off info and pictures of the classes, so I can continue when I'm ready. Some of the classes I really want to do and learn, so I plan to do some, if not all, of them at some point. Right after I finish the three class projects I already have in progress!
With that being said, I also haven't been able to focus on my quirky doodles either, mainly because I got addicted to gelli plate printing, which I now have stacks of. The horse is a quirky doodle that I actually had started a few weeks ago and had not been able to see an image hidden among the marks. I picked it back up New Year's Eve night and pulled this odd looking horse out. Odd, but I like him!
This is actually my first quirky doodle of 2019, January 1. I have not been exercising my hand eye ability to pull out the images for a while, so it's not coming easily to me right now. I did pull out the egg images, which I may add markings or paint to at some point. I added a pinkish filter to it in photo editing.
Both doodles are in my mixed-media journal with a Lyra water soluble crayon.
The pink PEACE stencil at the left is actually the front overlay off a Christmas card I received from a dear friend. I experimented with it today on my 5"x 7" Gelli Arts plate with open media acrylics and Speedball printmaking paper. Some turned out okay, some not!
Experiment with a small roller and paint in several layers. Some leftover paint on the plate from the PEACE prints came off on this print, adding some interest. Sorry about the light glare!
This, and the next print, are the first and second pulls off the same single layer of paint, which I applied a little too thickly in five stripes, and spread/mixed with my finger. I love the dark jewel tones!
After this last print, there was still some paint left on the plate, which I wasn't going to waste!
I took some end papers that I had cut off of some prints and cleaned the plate of excess paint, and viola, with some trimming, laminating, and a little embellishing, I have bookmarks to share!
Gelli prints have sooooo many great uses! Even the little snippets can be used in collage, so there are no failed prints or waste. Can't wait to try using some in a collage!
I'm not quitting on my other painting, but these sure are a lot of fun!
Let's see what kind of art adventures we can have fun with in the coming year! It's good for our sanity and our souls! 😀
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