Resuming an Old Handmade Sketchbook "Jots and Tittles"

 So, I finished my other sketchbook, except for a couple of watercolor sketches that need a bit more work, and in looking for one of my new sketchbooks, I found this little handmade book that I made back in 2012 that hasn't been used since 2015.

At the time, we were having to take my father-in-law to the doctor a lot and I spent a lot of time in waiting rooms, so I made this small light weight journal to keep in my purse to sketch in while I waited. I also read in my Kindle a lot, plus I had another small hardback bought sketchbook that I did most of my sketching and note taking in. That explains the long gaps in the dates!

The cover is made from soft unstretched artist canvas, which I stenciled and layered paint on, and I punched four eyelet holes in the edges for decoration and to tie together with waxed linen thread for bookbinding. It measures 6"x9" closed. 

It's been so long that I don't remember what kind of paper I used, but it's a bit thicker than regular paper and is an off-white color. It has two signatures of five 18" long papers folded in half, and they are bound with a simple pamphlet stitch using the same waxed linen thread I used for a tie.

The first four pages are from 2012, and the fifth page is from 2013. 

People I saw in the waiting room that I found interesting

A mandala kept me busy for a whil

Doodled a quote that I saw somewhere

Another mandala practice

Ok, I did a quick loose watercolor sketch in it this morning from imagination, using leftover watercolors and a large brush. The paper does not work well with wet watercolor, and it buckled some. It might be ok using dry brush watercolor, but it seems to be more suited for dry media. Not great, but at least I was painting! 

I had to photograph it because it wouldn't fit on my scanner, being a 6" x 18" long double page spread. I also couldn't make the photo on here bigger, because it wouldn't fit on the published page. Anyway, it's a start on getting my mojo back! Ha!

We are still iced in with very frigid temperatures, but thankfully, we have what we need, and are doing ok. Day #8 with the aftermath of "Fern".

Hope you are safe, warm, well, and creating beautiful things, wherever you are! You don't have to make things perfect to enjoy making them...

Reflections of Me-Timeline-Journaling Class w Jeanne Oliver

So I actually finished this project several days ago and loved doing it! It was inspired by a bonus class from Jeanne Oliver's Reflections Paint Your Story course, which was added onto the Storytellers and Mavericks course I signed up for. I decided to do the bonus class first, but have since watched the videos for the S and M course also. www.jeanneoliver.com, and then I got sidetracked off onto another course and have a Santos Cage doll WIP 😏 (see previous post and next posts).

Anyway, this is the double spread I started with (see previous post). I covered the journal pages with scrapbooking paper, which says "I Love You" repetitively, then drew my timeline circles and marked off 8 sections. The center circle represents my core beliefs. I didn't necessarily follow the video, but I did decide to go ahead and use the teacher's suggestions, sort of, for the sections representing different chapters of my life, like before I was born, influencers, childhood, dark times, home life, future, etc. There's more to them than that in the class, and she does a great job of explaining hers for reference. It's a lot about digging into and understanding my roots. 

I used mostly printed off photos, torn apart, as a base for each section, to represent that chapter of my life. There are a few videos in the class showing different techniques and things to use, which are fun and interesting. Center right top, I've used a photo of my parents (pregnant with me) for before I was born, my granny and me for a positive influence, the house I grew up in for childhood, corn crib for dark times, a solid rock path for leaving my parents' home and my childhood, a sheltering tree for my own home and family, a box of my grandpa's rusty tools and parts for my creativity, and a dead tree in snow for my future (because I'm in the winter of my life now). This was the base I started building onto.

I've added black and white gesso around the base photos, then other torn photos, papers, artwork, etc. into the various sections/chapters, using mostly b/w with a little color. In the center circle I added a tree with many branches for my family tree, and the butterfly wings, which I found in the car shed after the cat killed it, for transformation and life. Some of my sections wound up a little wider than others, but my chapters all bleed over into each other anyway, so it's ok! This looks nothing like the teacher's, except that it's a circle. I tend to get a little busy on paper! 😀

I've added a cross in the center, signifying my faith, some words and numbers, and a lot of marks with various tools. Every mark and collaged piece on here represents a symbol or meaning for me during that period of my life. I won't try to explain them all here, but they are all significant and I have loved all the memories and discovering a bit more about myself.

I added a few more touches, such as the squiggly line around the outside, which connects all the chapters together. Since making this photo, I also brought out the eye over the tree in the future section. So, this is it, at least for now. It's been a trip!

Closer up of left page

Closer up of right page

I'm thinking I may make another one of these. I'll confess that some of the marks were strictly intuitive, and I didn't fully know what they meant when I was making them, but once the timeline was done, and I really looked at each section/chapter, I knew exactly what every mark and symbol meant. It was amazing!

Still thinking about taking the whole course, as soon as, I finish some of my other projects! This is the second class from the Reflections course I've taken (previous post R of Me-My DNA), which was a free class, and they're both awesome classes. The whole course is bound to be amazing!

Stay safe, well, and creative! 

Ballerina Mandala

I don't exactly remember where I got the idea for this project, but I was playing around with different techniques that I've learned from various online teachers (Thank you all so much for sharing your art and yourself with me!)

I'm going to have to start writing the text to go with the pictures as I add them to the drafts. After a while, I get involved with other projects and forget what exactly I did the ones I already have in progress. Or maybe make notes!

Anyway, the substrate is cradled birch panel, which I failed to sand to smooth it out, thus it has kind of a rough texture showing through every other layer. I marked the center with a pencil, then applied indigo acrylic paint to, I think a stamp rectangle cut out of a foam plate, then applied the stamp to the edges, overlapping the ends.

The circle stamp is the bottom flat part of a foam plate with white gesso applied and stamped/printed on. I thought I had it centered, but, alas, it wasn't!

I drew and cut out the ballerina stencil from a sheet of stencil stuff, and applied white gesso through the negative space centered over the circle.

Deep purple acrylic has been painted over the white circle, more gesso added to the dress, and some flesh color to the skin.

I know this is looking the same color, but the circle is deep purple acrylic, and I added more indigo acrylic around the circle. Wasn't loving the splotchy look! The circle has been divided into sections for zen doodling.

As of now, I have started the zen doodling in the circle with a white gel pen, and it's another work in progress project that will eventually be finished. When it is I will post it!

I know nothing about it is perfect, but everything I do is a bit wonky. I am imperfect, therefore, whatever I create is imperfect. That doesn't stop me from loving to try!

On My Desk Right Now

Just some things on my desk right now...

A birthday card for mama with a gelli print background, bought stamps, and gel pens and Pitt pen...

A mandala in progress, started on an 8"x8" wooden panel, purple circle with white gel pen doodles and indigo blue outside the circle, acrylics...

A 6"x12" gallery canvas, which I thought was finished until I decided to gelli print over it. I like it much better! Still in progress?...

And a 6"x6" gallery canvas with layers of acrylic paint, runs, hand made eraser stamps, spatters, dots, marks, over a collaged background inspired by Tracy Verdugo's Paint Mojo book. Still in progress...

And the beginning of some 2"x2" Christmas ornaments, which I have since gelli printed over, still in progress...

I've also gelli printed backgrounds on several pages in a couple of journals...

Just some of the things I'm playing with right now!

Wishing you all fearless painting and creating!

Spirit Mandala

So few people visit my blog anymore that it has become more of a record of the steps I took to create my projects. Then at the end of the year I have a blog book printed to remind me. I guess I'm not working hard enough at getting my blog out there so people know about it, or maybe people just don't like it, but that's okay, I do! My blog and my FB page are just more projects that I enjoy doing to feed my soul! If others like them I'm thankful, that's gravy! :)

Anyway, this project began as an experiment in my large sketchbook. I painted the bottom of a foam plate red and stamped it on the page for a mandala base. The bird is an original stencil mask that I cut out and I was just seeing how he might look as a center. I liked him and fully intended on using him right up until the very end...

I used a lid off an air freshener jar, painted white, to stamp and divide the center of the red circle. I was sitting down and the book was laying flat, so the center is a little off, but that's ok. I'm playing, and besides it wouldn't be my art if it wasn't a little wonky! It's just how I see things...

The cross was stamped on to it using the mini Gelli plate loaded with green and magenta paint. Somehow the paint left a lighter oval in the center, which reminded me of an eye...

I brushed in around the cross with Chinese orange and Manganese Blue, and blocked in the eye...

The orange was a little dark, so I brushed Nickel Azo Gold over it and worked on the eye some more...

I used a hand carved eraser feather/leaf to stamp on the cross, a white gel pen to add marks to the outside ring, worked a bit more around the eye, leaving reflections in the iris...

I stamped in the yellow spaces with hand carved eraser stamps and in the iris with a tiny bought stamp of stars, which I colored in for "stars in the eyes", and I added words and marks in white gel pen to finish it. I like it! :)

I had no idea where I was going with it when I stamped that red circle on the page. It just came to me as I went along, but I like how it turned out. It was fun and very calming to work on, and that was good for me and my soul!

That's the fun of it. I may not have a plan, or even an idea of where I'm going, when I start a project, but all of the twists and turns getting to the final piece make for an exciting adventure getting there! :)

Psalm 121 Mandala

I've been having some fun doing mandalas in my sketchbook!

I used my mini Gelli plate to stamp this star on to my page. The first layer was manganese blue hue, the second was Nickel Azo yellow gold (?), and the third was pyrole red. All were open media acrylics.

The outside of a foam plate laid face down and traced around made a good outer circle. I devided the circle into parts according to where the points were where the gelli prints crossed, which you can see are not exactly the same, but then, measuring, or math, is not my strong suit. I used metallic pens to doodle the different patterns into the sections and a sanguine fine Pitt pen to go over the lines between them.

The feather stamp was carved from an eraser and stamped all the way around, and a tiny bought stamp was used to put stars in the sections between the star points. I also wrote part of the 121 Psalm, which is my favorite Psalm, inside the star with a white gelli pen and added black lines with a fine Pitt pen.

I used the black pen to darken the small stars stamp, add circles to the ends of the lines, detail to the feather quills, and glued on a punched out circle from a gelli print in the center. The circle kind of looks like sky and water. The whole thing has an earthy feel to me, and was very meditational and relaxing to do.

This was actually the second one I did in this session. The first is resting in a draft, yet to be finished and posted. I am also working on a third, but it's on an 8" x 8" wooden panel, as it may/may not be a gift, depending on how it turns out. We'll see!

Anyway, they are fun to do and good for my soul!

You don't have to be an expert to do what you enjoy doing! :)