WIP Pages in My Wire and Plaster Art Journal

I painted on paper so long I forgot what painting on canvas felt like, even if the pages are textured with gesso/marble dust and modeling paste!

These are some of the spreads I'm currently working on, all very much still in progress! All are in my wire/plaster journal inspired by Jeanne Oliver's class (see previous post).

Bare beginnings. Let's see where they go from here!

Thin paint, napkins, ink, and texture to start...

Playing with a cruciform composition; many layers, textures and techniques...

After I posted this post, I worked on this one a bit more. The whiter background is due to a different light. I didn't like the whitish negative spaces, despite the texture not showing up in the photo, so I added some lines and a bit of gel pen marks to the cruciform attempt. I also re-worked the wire in the binding, because before it had a hump in the twisting that was going to push a hole in the middle of the page. I flattened it out. I like the wire much better. Not sure about the lines!

Texture, a tinge of paint, old photos printed off, and a bit of collage...

The beginnings of another She Tribe painting (see previous post) with inks, napkins, and text...

This one just lacks a final touch, and I'm waiting for it to tell me what that is. Many layers of many things built up to this point. See the post just before this one to see what it looked like before I rolled the light paint over it. Don't know if I did the right thing or not, but it's growing on me!

I added color to another blank spread today, but don't have pictures yet. Can't wait to experience the journey of emotions that each of these spreads will take me on, as well as, the pages waiting for their first marks! Fun stuff!

WiP Journal Pages-Before and After

The first spread I did in the plaster and wire journal that I made, inspired by Jeanne Oliver's free class (See the previous post for the Wandering Muse; Plaster and Wire journal).

It started out with a layer of a pretty blue acrylic paint, which I, unfortunately, sprayed a turquoise/teal color over, then a coffee color, which, instead of a mist, came out in splotches. I did some stenciling in titanium buff, but the turq/coffee paint, although dry, mixed with the buff. I tried taking some paint off. I tried spraying a fixative. The spray paint kept bleeding through.  I added a dark tea bag, some stencils and stamps, napkins, pencil marks, a small gelli plate print (blue cat), more paint, etc. After several layers, this is what it looked like. Too dark and too busy. I didn't like it, but didn't know what else to do to it to lighten it up some.

Then I saw in one of my groups where a lady had a painting that she said didn't have any contrast much in it, so she used a roller to apply white paint over the whole background. The texture in the background picked up the white just enough to allow enough of the colors to shine through to make a huge difference. I thought to myself, "Why not?"

So I mixed a bit of burnt sienna with titanium buff and used my little hard roller to apply it over the top of my very textured pages, and this is what I got. Not sure if I like it better, or not. Part of me really does. I know it needs just a touch of something, and the crow got kind of lost. So this is where it is for now, as I wait for it to tell me what else it needs. The little flap on the right page has a stenciled key on the other side, so there are two hidden keys to all of this chaos. I'm not caring too much for the flap right now, but, for now, it stays.

Close ups of both pages. Now I can see all sorts of little images peering at me through the chaos. I hated to cover up a lot of the stuff that started out on these pages, but it became necessary. I'm thinking the rolled on light paint made the whole thing more cohesive.

Fun to work on, but I'm going to let it rest for a while and grow on me, while I work on some other pages. The experimenting and the process is exciting! It took me years to learn to paint freely, and I enjoy it so much more than I did when I tried to get everything so perfect and realistic looking, which, of course, it never was.

I am so grateful to the teachers who said it's okay for your art to not be perfect, to paint fearlessly, and to enjoy the process!

Don't be afraid to try, to experiment, to play, and to enjoy! It doesn't have to be perfect for you to love doing it!

Revisiting a Couple of Gelli Plate Prints

I decided to do some more to these two small gelli plate prints to make them better. I think I failed, especially with the top one! Both are printed on a vintage music book page using a mini gel plate with Golden open media acrylic paints.

Originally, the cat and gelli print were printed with the cat's tail  going all the way to the top of the print. When I decided to use my Posca paint pens to add some impressionistic dots, I decided the tail didn't need to be that long and tried to cover it, and also the blue random image on the right. I should have left the tail alone. It kind of took away from the cat's character when I shortened it. It stayed like that for a long time, but this week I was playing with India ink and gel pens in my sketchbook, so I decided to add white scribbles  and highlights, along with a few black lines with the gel pens. I think I probably should have left the scribbles off the background, but it is what it is, and the only way to fix it is to go over the background with acrylic paint and kind of start over on it. I'm going to let it sit for a while and see. I can always use in in a collage. So it's all good!

When I first pulled this one, I saw the little crowd of people image in the paint, so I added black gel pen lines to bring them out and left it for a long time. Again, this week, while playing with my gel pens and ink, I used the pens to bring out the lion-ish image and highlight some of the figures. For some reason, this is comforting to me. I have since seen another figure apart from the rest, but don't know if I will pull it out, or not. Going to let it sit a while and see!

I love pulling images out of random paint and pencil marks on paper, and gelli plate prints are wonderful for that. Also addictive! 😀 Fun stuff!

28th Stitch Meditation-Pink Sheep

Still having a hard time feeling creative during all the chaos going on in the world, but I finished this meditation that I started a few days ago and am working on another one, as of yesterday!

The background is a cotton scrap of fat quarter fabric, the black scrap is from a discarded blouse of mine, the sheep scrap is from a pair of my knit pajamas, and the ribbon is a remnant. The french knot  eyes on the sheep are a little wonky, but I stuck with the rule of not taking any stitches out, no matter how wonky they are. Stitching relieved some tension for me. I love the little dude!

Do something that gives you a sense of peace every day, especially during this quarantine! Stay safe and well!

Some Mindless Doodling

I can't seem to focus on much, with all that's going on in the world right now, but I've been doodling some, just to keep things flowing. Some of these are quirky doodles, where I make a bunch of marks with my eyes closed, then pull images from the marks, and some of them I drew from memory with my eyes closed.

Bunny and Ellie Watercolor

Practice inspired by Danielle Donaldson on Jeanne Oliver's Class website, free lesson from her course Bunnies and Ellies, illustration

Last post for today! All caught up for now! I got the urge to do a little painting after watching a couple of free lesson videos, but instead of following along with the video, I just sketched the figures off, then waited until the next day to paint them, trying to remember how Danielle did it, so mine is not near as good as hers is, but I really enjoyed trying, I needed the practice, and I like it! Kuretake asian watercolors on Grumbacher watercolor paper 6" x 6" pad.

Again, the background is white, not gray. Still haven't got things working on the new laptop like I want them to. Sorry!

The second painting inspired by a free Kate Thompson class on the same website, is still in process, also watercolor, which I had to a stopping place, but decided not to stop and turned it into a complete mess. I don't know if I can salvage it or it will become collage fodder. We'll see!

Keep trying new creative things! It's good for your soul! 😇

Art Journal Collage Using Gelli Prints- "To Be Brave"

I've been seeing some amazing collages made by artists using their gelli plate prints, so I thought I would try one! Mine isn't amazing, but it was fun to do, fed my soul, made me happy, and I like it. 😊

The base gelli print was a page in my journal where I had cleaned off my roller and my plate and added the gold buttons, using a handmade stamp. I liked it as it was, but decided to develop it further into a mixed-media collage. The long white/pinkish strip on the left is another gelli print that I had intended to turn into a bookmark, but since I had sort of sketch/painted a tailless bird on one end, and the colors seemed to work with the journal page, I glued it down with matte gel medium.

I added some stars and a large circle that I had punched out for a previous project. I outlined all with a charcoal pencil. The large circle needed something, so I used one of my downsized original monotypes, from a previous jewelry project, to break it up, and outlined it with the charcoal pencil. I added the pink/gold washi tape to kind of break things up, and glued a piece of text down, but it still needed something under the bird.

I happened to have a white duck feather that I had previously used on a couple of gelli prints to pick up paint from the plate laying on my desk. It also happened to be blue! So I cut off the end and glued it to the bird, giving him a tail, and finished painting the bird. I also gave him a posca marker branch to sit on. I gave the whole page some charcoal scribbles and bits of paint and called it done!

Mixed-media journal paper, mixed-media, including, Golden open media acrylics, handmade button stamp, gelli prints, a printed duck feather, posca marker, charcoal pencil, punched out circles and stars from painted papers, text, gold metallic acrylic paint, washi tape, palette knife to paint bird body/head, and probably something else that I forgot. Since my work space is in total disarray, and my space to work is about the size of my 5"x 7" gelli plate and sketchbook, I used whatever was handy, but I'm thinking it turned out ok.

Can't wait to try a collage painting using my gelli prints, but I may try a couple more of these before I attempt that. I also need to get back to my classes that I started last year, but maybe I will and maybe I won't. Sometimes, I just need to do my own thing! 😊

Stay creative and happy!

First Art of 2019!

NO resolutions this year, because I never keep them anyway! Also, going to try my best NOT to sign up for any year long classes or challenges. There are too many variables in life that interfere with my intentions, making it somewhat stressful for me.

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! 😀

Finding Stuff While Decluttering!

I have begun the long slow process of decluttering/organizing my dining/art room, which hasn't been done in years. It's gotten to the point that I have no place to work and I can't find anything, so, although it's overwhelming, I have no choice but to do it. And this is only one corner! Yikes!

I emptied the piled up dining room table (lower right corner and the whole table is this piled up) into boxes, then sorted the stuff in the boxes into related piles back onto the table. In doing so, I've found several new art supplies that I had forgotten about, some that I had been looking for, and a couple of things that I was about to re-order.

Among the "stuff" I also came across a few of the items I made from paper clay in an online class I took a while back. They don't show up too well on this cigar box of buttons, but I made the button, the bead, and the two necklace pendants. Finding them made me want to get out the paper clay again! :)

I also came across this watercolored post card that I experimented on. I loved it at the time, but now, it looks kind of odd to me. Isn't it funny how our perception of things changes over time?

So far, I've gotten rid of two large garbage bags of papers and accumulated junk mixed in with art stuff, and I'm continuing to be surprised by finding things I'd forgotten about. It's like a treasure hunt! It's going to be a long process, but hopefully it'll be worth it in the end, if I can hold out to get it done when I'd rather be slinging paint. I've barely made a dent, but it's made a difference! 

Quirky Doodle Crow Painted- "Professor Byrd"

Another one of the quirky doodle sketches that I shared in a previous post at the beginning of January, which I have just finished coloring in! At least, I think he's finished. Seems like he might  need just a little something else, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Anyway, for now he's finished, and I love him, so I want you to meet "Professor Byrd"! He reminds me of a college teacher that I had, but he's named after a doctor I had in Nashville, TN when I was little, named Dr. Joe Byrd.

The original sketch in my mixed media journal.

The first layer of inktense color pencils

The addition of some colored pencils, a black stabilo pencil, a little more inktense, a black Posca paint pen, and a little gold acrylic paint brought him to life.

Series 52 is about completing one work a week, just for me, just for fun, so that I have a series of completed work at the end of the year. I hadn't thought I would use a theme, but I'm loving coloring in my quirky doodles, so I just might continue doing them as a series. We'll see!

Also shared in Creative Every Day, my FB art page, and Series 52.

Towel Teddy Bear

I saw this cute bear video yesterday, and I just had to try it. I saw it on facebook, then couldn't find it again, so I went to Pinterest and typed in "towel teddy bear" and got all kinds of videos/instructions on, not just the bear, but other animals as well, all folded from towels, wash cloths, baby blankets, etc.

It took me a few tries, but I did it! I know the bow is too long, but the scissors weren't handy, and I need to get neutral rubber bands, instead of red, but that's all I could find.

I guess it's a "he" since it's a blue towel?

This was a cheap dollar store towel, kind of coarse. I think a soft baby blanket or towel would probably work better, but this is what I had at the moment. When I get tired of the bear, I can just take the rubber bands off, and I still have a hand towel.

Anyway, it was a distraction for a while, and it felt good to learn something new, plus it was fun, and made me happy. That's the important part! He isn't perfect, but he is FUN!

Keep learning new things! It's good for your health and well being!

Animalitos: Inky Bird Card

A card inspired by Tracy Verdugo's class, Animalitos (see link at side), using acrylic inks. He is also a work in progress, but I love him so far. Just needs tweaking some, and some legs and an eye. Will share again when he's finished!

Animalitos: Landscape

Inspired by Tracy Verdugo's class, Animalitos! See link on sidebar!

Playing with acrylic inks: first, a landscape experiment, and I started an inky owl, but didn't complete him. Maybe I will someday! And I need to bring out the images in the landscape too. Can you see any images?

New Things I'm Playing With

The beginning layers...

Where it is now, but definitely not where it's going to stay...

Six layers of gelli print images to start in art journal, now where to go from here...

Owl Be Seeing You!

An 18" x 24" mixed media painting on mixed media paper, inspired by Tracy Verdugo and Flora Bowley, with some Connie Hozvicka Solaris fearlessness thrown in.

First layers in first session...

A few of the many layers the painting went through above and below. Shapes are beginning to emerge...

The final version! Sorry about the photography. It does look better in person. There's more I could do to it, but I decided to stop, at least for the time being. Click on the picture to see more symbols and layers! I didn't do the best job in the world, but I had fun doing it and playing with different media, textures, and techniques, and I really enjoyed approaching it without fear. I like it!

I thought it was the final version! The butterfly kept bothering me, and I changed its color about 3x and decided it was the size and position of where it is, so I took some of the paint off in the area and stenciled some white dots over the area. It still didn't look right!

I used some small stencils to add the bird and other patterns over the owl's head and around. Not the best photo, but I like the painting much better and can leave it alone...unless I decide to cut it up for other projects...

Now you know what the inside of my mind looks like! :D

Now working on another 18"x24" painting inspired by the same teachers on mixed media paper on which a bunny has made itself known. Don't claim to be a pro, but this style of painting is so much fun, and I just signed up for another mini course with Tracy on Color, Pattern, and Texture, which starts Dec. 15 (go to sidebar and click on the Animalitos Mini Mojo course to check it out). It's an early Christmas present to myself! :D