Artful Soul

Sometimes when I work on a piece I know exactly what I want to do even before I start. Sometimes it just evolves as I work. This is one of those pieces. I had no idea where I was going until all of a sudden it began to speak to me and directed my strokes.

The background began with strips of tape and book pages. Then I used inks with a lot of drippage. Next layers were acrylic paints and a music stamp. I popped dotted (raised) a copy of an original bluebird watercolor I painted last week during the big snow. The quote was from Andy Warhol and just sort of fit this piece. I printed it on a piece of Braille paper. What a cool effect it gave.

I had a lot of fun with this piece. Got my fingers messy, relaxed and just created.




"art is whatever you can get away with". Andy Warhol









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Abstract - See the eye?

This weeks Journal52 challenge is abstract. I don't do abstract very well but I guess this qualifies. I was going to cut it up for pieces but once finished I like it so I'll probably slap it in my journal.

The most surprising element of this piece is the appearance of the eye.



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Dreams

This background on this tag is alcohol inks on Yupo paper. The flourish is painted watercolor paper and cut with a long sizzix die. The silhouettes are a TH die and cut from heavy textured felt. The saying is stamped on deli paper and one I haven't used yet.



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She rises high into the unknown

I started this watercolor with the intent of trying a new technique in the background. I used my Dr. Ph Martin's hydrus watercolors and crumpled Saran Wrap on watercolor paper. It made such a beautiful background that I decided to go ahead and complete the page. The colors were perfect for this girl who was inspired from a clipping from the newspaper. The hydrus watercolors are so vibrant. I love working with them.






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Bluebirds

My friend Marie posted a picture of bluebirds at her bird bath.. The little one so captured my interest that I had to do a watercolor of it. The little one looks as if it wants to speak to me. He's so cute!





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Documented Life week three

January 12 Challenge (Week Three) - Add an envelope from your mailbox. Get creative and add the whole envelope or parts of the envelope. Journal on it, write notes on it or use it as a pocket!








This is the final page. The orchid watercolor is a tag. It pulls out from the top. I inserted it into an envelope that had a clear place for an address. Then I used mixed media to make mail art out of the envelope.






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Journal52 Project

Week one was Up, Up and Away.


I made this journal page for the Journal52 project. The first week was Up, up and away. I started out with intentions of just doing a background for later use. Then all of a sudden it began to come together using this theme. Before I finished, I ended up using nine stamps that I'd never used until today. Some were ones I'd had for along time and a couple were fairly new but hadn't used yet.

The quote is "the journey awakens the soul". It is one of TH stamps.

She's dreaming of a journey. She wants to go somewhere where she feels as free as the birds she watches fly away.







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Challenge Week One of Documented Life

I am participating in a challenge by five artists called Documented Life. Since I journal everyday and keep several art journals at a time, it was a perfect challenge for me to participate in.

Week one challenge is to portray your front door. You can do this anyway you want. Since we use our back door more than our front door, I chose to do it. Here's my page and the reason what the door signifies to me.







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Poinsettia

I did this Poinsettia in watercolor. My poinsettia plant had lost one of it's stems, so I used it as a guide for drawing and color. I was also influenced by Lindsay (thefrugalcrafter).

I want to mat and frame it but cut the paper at an odd size for commercial mats. Guess I'll have to cut one myself.









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Tags

Thanks to Lindsay the FrugalCrafter for this idea. I painted watercolor tags to attach to gifts for friends. They can use them as ornaments or bookmarks after they open their gifts.






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Experience each day

I didn't set out to do another thankful page but it just happened so I thought I'd share. I did this watercolor earlier in the month but knew the page wasn't finished. I hadn't found a quote that I felt fit this page. But this morning I saw this quote and felt it was perfect for what I wanted. Now the page is finished and I am happy with it.




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Junelle's new class

Just watched the open house teaser video for Junelle Jocobsen's new class. Here's the link :
http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-art-of-goodness.html

She's a great teacher and her videos's are fun to watch. She has such a sweet spirit. I've enjoyed every class I've taken with her.

She has an open house this week and is posting some samples to get you interested. Here's a quick and I mean quick, like three minute watercolor I did from watching her open house video. For this one, I decided to use water color pencils.




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Door Challenge

I was challenged to do a door, any door, any medium. I chose a rust door done in watercolor and some mixed mediums elements thrown in. Just playing and having fun.




I decided to take this piece and make a journal page. I love to use created background pages to enhance the artwork.




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The Unknown Bird

I painted this bird in watercolor on canvas paper. I used Dr. Ph. Martin's hydrus watercolors. They are so intense. They have such a different effect than the traditional pan or tube watercolors. I'm trying to get used to painting with them.

The canvas paper has a different tooth than the watercolor paper. It soaks in the paint faster and doesn't pool as easily. I like working with it, but it is taking some getting used to.

At first I wasn't very happy with this bird, but now that it has dried I think he's ok. My inspiration was a picture I found and now can't even remember where I found it. Hence the title, the unknown bird.

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Egg-tastic

Chicken eggs in a nest influenced by the Frugalcrafter Lindsay. Her site is thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com
This was done in watercolor. I love to watercolor!




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The Farm

My friends live on a farm. We love to go and spend time with them. Since I was playing with watercolors today, I decided to do this scene of the barn and the mountains on canvas paper. It was from a photo i took last time we went to see them. It's small but I love it. Think I'll frame it and hang in my studio. Looking at it makes me happy!




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Colorful Tag

Challenge for this was to make something colorful. Use the neons if possible. I love birds so I decided on this colorful little tag.




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Farmer's Market

Watercolor sketch of imaginary trip to the Farmer's Market. I love to go to our local farmer's market. I love all the fresh veggies, fruits and breads. They have a wonderful selection of flowers and plants. We have a large one and you can find about anything you want.




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Rainy day at the farm

We spent last weekend with our friends at the farm in the mountains of Virginia. It was a rainy day on Saturday so we just enjoyed the rockers, the birds and the view. These two quickly painted watercolor were done to remind me of the day and the sheer joy of spending time with dear friends.







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Handmade Journal

I handmade this journal. I used the covers from an old hymnal that I altered.

The cover: I cut out a niche in the front cover to place the gelli printed girl. The binding piece is an old paint brush with beads wired around the handle. The binding fabric I used is from a negligee I received as a wedding gift so many, many years ago.

I made the frame out of pieces of cardboard I cut with my Cuttlebug and dies. I covered them with molding paste and aged with paint. I also used some lace pieces given to me from a friend.

The crystal piece on the bottom of the frame is a crystal from my mom's old chandelier that had been ruined in hurricane Bonnie. The jeweled piece for a closure is from my grandmother's broken earring. Since neither my mom or grandmother is still alive, both of these pieces make the journal mean even more to me.

The papers: I cut pages from various types of papers. They were old book pages, used envelopes, water color paper, music pages, library cards, tags and anything else I could find to use if it appealed to me.

One of the pages is a color copied portion of a letter that my father wrote to my grandmother when he was stationed in the Pacific during World War II. You can see the edge of the letter in the picture.

Many of the pages have already been gelli printed and ready to use. Some of the pages have already been completed.

I'm very excited to work in this journal. I love so many things about this journal. It makes me smile every time I pick it up.
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