My Week In Art

 Some pages from my art journals this week.

Sometimes I have a vision for what I create before I sit down

in front of the blank page...

but usually not.

Sometimes I just want to be mindless and throw color around...

and make a mess.

But to be honest? 

I probably have Attention Deficit Disorder.

I just can't stay at one task very long.

I move from one creative job to the next.

I can go from art table... to cutting table... to longarm quilt machine...

 and back again...

 On my machine this week are two more wool quilts.... for customers...

Block of the Months again

Of Course I didn't let up on my Daily book.

There is something so liberating about pouring myself out

with a pen and marker

or brush and paint.

Mmmm Mmmm Good.

Here's to Being Brave

and becoming who you are supposed to.

xo

Little Birdy Love

Just finished on my longarm machine....

I loaded two of these wall hangings on at one time.

I don't always do this, but if they are small, two make the work go faster.

These birds are from a kit offered by Sue Spargo.

Sue is a local woman who teaches wool applique internationally.

http://www.suespargo.com/

She offers an ongoing monthly class which I am lucky enough to be involved in.

Awhile ago we all worked on these birds.

The thought behind this is for everyone to start the same...

but by adding our own individual embellishments and style,

they all become uniquely our own.

Well, quilting these two inspires me to want to finish my own Birdies..

But I will show you Debbie's on the left.

Sue is an excellent teacher in that she challenges each of us in different ways.

Whether it is improving stitches, using exotic new threads,

or thinking outside the box in the colors you choose.





Check out all these Drizzle Stitches.

 In the last couple years

we have really been deep into embellishing

with embroidery stitches and beadwork.

It's a lot of fun ....but it is really time intensive.

Debbie's turned out great!

 When I finish mine I will show you.

Finally!

 Finally!

I am able to take that second floor challenge from Balzer Designs blog.

I have been following Julie on and off for a few years.

This is how I started....

And I realized it was way too easy.... not a challenge at all.

This is what I usually use.

So I pulled out some different supplies...

more scary ones.

 This was interesting.

I liked the challenge but I don't like deadlines.

I knew I needed to do it quickly if it was to be a true challenge for me.

It was fun to just grab some colors and put them together.

I did it.

I like it.

What I have learned about Art Journaling in general?

Art is just practice.

It is just DOING it.

It is NOT thinking about it or talking about it.

It is getting your hands messy in whatever medium you choose...

and just doing it.

Go ahead and make mistakes.

Go ahead and do the same thing over and over again.

Learn from everything you do.

And let it be fun.

That is what I have learned.

It takes courage to make mistakes.

So Be Brave and Just Do It!



Cover Art

I am finishing up my Third Daily Journal today.

Someone asked what I do with the covers of these Moleskine Watercolor Journals. These Particular books are my favorite for my dailies.

I considered some different sketchbooks when I started but landed on these. They are a very portable size. They fit in my art bag or in my purse so I take them most everywhere. The pages are thicker than a usual sketch tablet. I sometimes watercolor on them, sometimes gesso them, use any pen or marker and all but one is perfect every time. My copic markers DO bleed through the page, which is my only disappointment. So I am careful to only use the copics on a page I have gessoed on.

I was so careful when I covered my first book. It kind of scared me! I was new to Mod Podge and wasn't sure how it would work on the cover.

Well, it turns out I didn't really have anything to worry about! 

I had just been learning some new techniques around the time I covered my second book. I used a Crafter's Workshop 6"stencil with Matte Super Heavy Gel for some raised diamonds.

 The Tim Holtz products I ordered in the spring...

tickets and tabs and Distress Ink...

and a set of cheap-o letter and number stencils from the drug store...

influenced my cover design choices on #3.

 Look at book four. I can't get over how different it is. I approached it totally different this time.

I love to layer my art.

I love colors and numbers and words peeking out from underneath.

I started this cover with a paper towel I blotted my paints and wiped my brushes with.

It was full of color and texture.

I mod podged scraps of paper and a pink border and a bar code.

I laid paint down and wiped it off again.

I dripped ink splats and rolled them around.

I glopped paint on and let it dry and crackle.

I stenciled over a screen, and then over sequin holes.

Then I glimmer-misted a #4 stencil.

There were times I did not like it at all and I was sure it was a ruined book.

Everyone says to walk away from it for awhile...

and Never Give Up!

Melody says you can add 76 layers if you want ;)

But it turned out great!

The layers are beautiful and Look at that texture!

Hooray for paper towels!

Most important? It was Fun!

And you can always learn life lessons if you look for them.



The other thing that makes this cover different is totally obvious to me, 

but maybe not to everyone else.

I am different.....

Therefore my art is different.

I evolve..... my art evolves.

I am confident... my art is confident.

What can I say?

This is life.

And life is good.

Be Brave, dear ones.

xxxooo



On My Table Today

 On My Table Today.

It was one year ago that Laura and Peter were married.

How sweet.

Happy Anniversary. May you have many more.

Also on my table......

It was so much fun getting my hands dirty again this weekend.

I am almost to the end of my Daily #3.

I ordered a new Moleskine last week and I am painting the cover now.

I've been preparing more canvases.

Life is good.

Be Brave.

Just Do It

 After I came back from Mackinaw City,

 I hit the floor running with preparations for a bridal shower at my house.

It seems like forever that I have made a mess at my table.

But I have continued to keep my daily.

I have an art bag that I throw my book and pens and markers into when I travel.

If you live a creative life you just need to create...

Any way you can... Any time you can...

Small scale...

Large scale...

In the kitchen...

In your garden...

In your decorating...

In a book...

With words...

With paint...

With markers...

With pens...

Just do it, Brave Ones.

Just do it.

Mackinac

It was a restful and relaxing visit with my three sister in laws up in the tip of Michigan's mitten.

Look at all the visual inspiration!

These are not the usual Mackinac photos. Yes. I have 35 photos of the Mackinac Bridge. And 20 photos of various angles of the lighthouses. But it is these others that I am inspired by.

 If I thought something was 'doodle-worthy', I snapped it.

 More later!