Just A Little Art

Happy New Year!

It was a frosty start to the morning...but beautiful for a morning walk. I don't always get up in time to go along with Paul...but he slept in too so I was able to join him. There was enough moisture in the air overnight to create lots of frost....and it was lovely.

I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions....but I've been reading some interesting thoughts and reflections online from artists I admire...some of which I may share here at some point. But this first day of the year for me included just a little art.

Inspired by Lynne's recent cards using torn floral images I wanted to do something in my Sketchbook Challenge book on the page spread that included her note. You can read about that and see her cards here in this post. I started with an image of a clematis bloom from a catalog and loosely tore it out around the petals. My natural inclination would have been to meticulously cut it out....but I do like the torn look.

For the background I chose a page out of my manuscript book because I thought it nicely mirrored Lynne's writing on the back of her card....and handwriting has such wonderful texture.

Using gel medium I adhered the image then once it was dry outlined the flower with a black marker. 

Then the page spread went through several stages throughout the day....many of them looked pretty bad.  I liked it better just simple and plain. But because I wanted more texture I added paint.  Then I covered it up....then I added paint...then I covered it up......and so on.

I also wanted to use some polka dots which is a bit of a theme throughout the book. I forged ahead with added polka dots using a mixture of paint, cut circles from security envelopes and cutouts from a black and white daisy I had mass produced in my computer.

Here's where I ended up.  I'll have to find my own way with this Sketchbook Challenge....but this book is about trial and error and experimenting with paint, mark making, layering, and collage. I have a little bit of everything here and it started with a little inspiration from Lynne.

Here's how it looked at the beginning of the day.

The Gift of Friendships

I have been blessed with wonderful friends my whole life. I've known Becky since I was 5 and she seems more like a sister as a friend.  She and I had a nice long conversation this evening....and because we have a shared past there is a depth of understanding that goes beyond the words we share. 

And one of my newest friends is Lynne who I got to know through this blog. I still have not met her in person but feel connected to on so many levels and I just got a little package from Lynne with a few of her creations. She knows I am inspired by her art...and she is very tuned into the many layers that are happening in my life these days...her gift came at just the right time.

And...there are dozens of amazing friendships in between who foster my creativity, lift me up, and make me laugh or smile right when I need it. I am truly blessed with friendships.

Lynne's gift included 4 beautiful homemade cards she made from torn floral images collaged over  painted background pages from a repurposed art journal. The torn edges against the textures of the negative space create a wonderful effect! I'm going to borrow the idea!

Lynne's package also came with a note on the back of card #57 of her 67 Day Project inspired by my 100 Day Project a few years ago.  I told her 67 was the perfect place to stop.  The 67 Day Project has a nice ring to it!

Without hesitation I trimmed up her card and stitched it into my Sketchbook Challenge book that I started a little while back....it paired well with one of my first gel print experiments I had already added to the book.  The print was done on a map using a piece of string as a mask.

I added a cutout from another gel print in the crease of the page tying the two pages together. 

I love that Lynne's note is still visible on the back....and something "Lynne inspired" will go on the opposite page. Oh how I dream of those endless days in the studio!

But for today....I'm grateful for the gift of friendships.

Then this showed up at our door this evening from Janice (delivered by her elf husband Jay)! How lucky are we! It's pretty clear what we'll be having with my morning coffee! 

Gotta' love the gift of friends! JOY!

LOL

I laughed out loud when I found this little snippet in Angie's stash. And doesn't it look important sitting on top of a page from my prized manuscript book?  https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-good-score.html

Then....just this afternoon Tracie texted me that she had to laugh out loud when she laminated a piece of her hair in a project she was working on....a fun follow-up to yesterday's post.  

It's good we can laugh at ourselves.  And I have to...because "I spill things."

When Paul was going through boxes getting ready for our move he found a whole pile of old work calendars.  He's gone digital but I'm glad he saved the old ones because I discovered the paper has just the right weight and texture for monoprinting on the gelli plate. So I added some of my test page to my little Sketchbook. 

In April of 1989 I was 6 months pregnant with Sam and working as a special education teacher at Deering High School in Portland ME. 

I used one of the pages I ripped out and collaged some of my old stamps for opposite page....and we'll see what ends up in the middle.....someday.

One of the things Laura encourages us to do for the Sketchbook Challenge is to play around with images that we love and manipulate them, draw them....and use them throughout our book.  

I am growing quite fond of the polka dotted pear I wrote about a few days ago...so I played around with it digitally during the ride back to Lexington. The nice thing about digital images is that you can resize them and play around with color and background and transparency. I had taken photos of the pear and a page from the manuscript book as my starting point.

https://www.designmatterstv.com/sketchbook-challenge-home/

Fruit Snippets

"If you're thankful, show it. If you love someone, tell them. If you're wrong, fess up. If you're confused, ask questions. If you learn something, teach others. If you're stuck, ask for help. If you made a mistake, apologize. If you trip, get back up. If someone needs help, help them. If you see wrong, take a stance."  

Much of my day was spent on my commission fabric stained glass piece....which is getting pretty close to being done.  Once it's delivered I'll be able to share it here.

I have been cutting out images of fruits for quite some time.  There's something about the warm colors and simple shapes....especially pears that draw me right in.  I found some snippets in a folder....and I had some on my bulletin board and I'm sure I'll find more. I'm going to play around with them a bit...alter them...and work some of them them into my sketchbook as a collage element.

Sketchbook Challenge Update
https://www.designmatterstv.com/sketchbook-challenge-home/

I said there would be polka dots.  

I think I need to knock down the paint a bit....but I can do that when I collage it in. This page needs some paint and background....but this might be where this pear will live. 

This sketchbook challenge is going to take me well into....if not through 2021....and that's just fine. I'm going to enjoy working on bits and pieces when I have time.  

Just before I posted this I had an idea.....it's already better.

I need more hours in the day!

Cleanup....

....on aisle 5.

Just last week I thought it might be time to take down my little fall display at the condo before we headed back to Lexington.......it was starting to look a little tired. But I didn't.

This is what we came back to this week.  Cleaning up slippery pumpkin seeds and slime stones is tedious work.

Sketchbook Challenge Update

https://www.designmatterstv.com/sketchbook-challenge-home/

After I inserted some pages the next step was adding paint.....not my strong suit. But I used some of the techniques Laura recommended and one of my stencils and worked on this particular two page spread. Laura suggested we work patterns into our painting so I'm going with one of my favorite patterns....circles and dots. There will be many more circles and dots to be sure!

The blue piece I stitched in is one of the torn pages I painted...then reattached. The blue was a good addition to the color scheme and I really like some of the textures that presented themselves during the painting process. There are still a lot of techniques to come so  these pages will keep evolving.

The "PROVERBS" image you see was actually on the back of a mono printed book page I attached below. The page was a little flimsy so I added the yellow piece with the window on the other side so "PROVERBS" would show through and reinforce the page

This is the backside looks like....a not so successful oak leaf print....but good for a starting place for these next pages. I think I'm going incorporate more of my leaf prints as collage elements throughout the book.

Collage is the next lesson.

This afternoon I took my pumpkins a little ways into the woods over a little hill where no one would see them so the critters could keep munching. I'm going to try and remember to check it out in the spring and see what's left. In the end...it all becomes soil.

Do Everything

"Do anything, but let it produce joy."  Walt Whitman.

This was one of those days where I did a little bit of this and that. So instead of "do anything" I did everything....and it all produced joy!

One of the best parts of the day was helping Margie decorate her apartment. She still needs to put the ornaments on the tree....but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at "The Home"....as she affectionately calls it!

It's cozy....a perfect setting for the Hallmark movie that was playing.

There was a clear line where a front was moving through and the western sky was spectacular and Paul and I enjoyed an evening stroll.

I've always been in awe of people who create beautiful art journals.  So when two artists I admire recommended the "Sketchbook Challenge" workshop by Laura Kemshall I decided to jump on board.  For the past month Laura has been posting two videos a week that walk you through her journal process with lots of tips and tricks to make your journal your own.  Once you purchase the workshop....you can work at your own pace and have access to the lessons forever.  I was in. 

I watched the first three videos this past weekend while I was in Lexington....and was chomping at the bit to get started when I got back to the studio.  Choosing the journal was the first step and I had the perfect hand-me-down from Angie.

I don't want to write too much about the process....because you should take the workshop to get that....but I can share my journal as I go along. 

Oddly enough....the first step was ripping out pages leaving just a bit....

...so I could add some of my own papers...and I have PLENTY to choose from and these additions will just be jumping off places for many the next steps coming up in the process.  I tried not to over think which pages I chose...there is so much more to come. This one was a monoprint reject.

The pages are glued in....and the stitching was optional.  I always choose to stitch.

This added page is my son Nate's artwork.

And these two were from a gift from Lynne where she painted/printed on deli paper.

The page on top was one of my first experiments on deli paper that Lynne also gifted me....and the one underneath is a digital kaleidoscope of one of my floral photographs that I had printed on card stock. 

And this is another mono print that I really love and now has a spot to shine. These are just a few....there are many more page inserts.

I ended up with all these ripped pages that will come in handy in other parts of the book.  Stay tuned for more of this "Sketchbook Challenge."

https://linktr.ee/laurakemshall

https://www.instagram.com/laurakemshall/