Hanging In There

Still hanging in there, this old body of mine is having a hard time re-adjusting to this new plumbing I have or perhaps I should say lack of plumbing. I have been reading a lot, knitting and doing some beading. These are all things I can do in my chair in the backyard. I haven't really felt like doing any art, although a couple art journal pages have managed to pop out of me.

This face is all gelatos otherwise known as oil pastel. I like the soft look it gives. The only problem with using oil pastels is they are so hard to write over.  Only a copic marker seems to do the trick.

This page I had started before my surgery and decided to work on her this morning. The background is made by layering several colors of acrylic paint, adding a stencil, spraying with an alcohol/water mix and blotting off the excess.  It takes off some colors and not others.  Its a fun way to start a piece or artwork. The figure was found in the background.  I love it when that happens.

Do you find your art often surprises you?

A few things

This is what I made this morning.  I have this pattern from Amy Butler for 3 sized bags. This one is the makeup bag. I think it turned out pretty good. I may have to make some more of these I think they would make great gifts.

This is a double page spread for the creative challenge on my ning site. The idea was memories and the holidays.

I started the pages using Christmas wrapping paper as backgrounds. I cut up other wrapping paper as collage items. The pic on the top left is of myself on the left and my sister Peggy on the right. I think I am 15 or 16 here which would make her 11. We always liked making cookies and decorating them. The lower pic is of Sarah, she was such a beautiful child, still is by the way. The pic on the right is my sister Marianne, we were making decorated Christmas trees with Peggy's boys. Then I wrote a little poem about the experience and added words that represented Christmas memories to me. It was fun to do.

This is a journal page with a few ladies who just popped out of the background. I was doing some experimenting with Color Wash sprays and stamping in the background. I really didn't see anything in the background until I turned the journal sideways. I have concluded that with found art you often have to look at the page all sorts of ways and several times before you can see anything.

I am still making birdies soon I will have enough so they can all fly together.

Oh I almost forgot I colored this today. Its one of Eden's drawings from Draw Doodle and Decorate. You can get your own to color here I decided to do him in non traditional colors, he was lots of fun. I have this set of 100 markers that I rarely use. This was a great opportunity to try them out.

Just Meditate

This is my latest art journaling page. I started it so I could practice filming myself, but then the memory card filled up. So I don't have a film of it but I did finish the page. This was one of my found art pieces. Just in case you are not familiar with that term, it means I found the image in the background and then just brought it to life. I really like working this way. I think this was my subconscious coming out.  I sure wish I made time for meditation because it really is something I enjoy and reap great benefits from.

Tonight is the Night of Writing Dangerously for my local Nanowrimo group.  Its starts at 8 pm and goes all night.  I am not sure if I will stay up all night but I do hope to get some serious writing done. I am on track with my book but I would like to get ahead so I could take a day off.  Sarah will probably finish tonight.  She is one over the over achievers in the group.

Have a creative Day

Found Art

Many of you may know about the concept of found art but for those who do not you basically pull out a picture from a detailed background. Sometimes you may see an eye or the shape of a shoulder or some body part. Sorry that I forgot to take any before pictures. I keep messing with her, not sure I like her yet but the process is sure fun.






















While I was camping in the evenings I dragged out the art materials and finished a few pages. Here are the results. In this one I played with lettering sizes.























I had a bag of scraps and collage items with me. Why this pic of me was in the bunch I am not sure but I liked it.






















This one of Mona has been collaged for a long time. It seemed to be missing something. Sometimes I find that I tend to worry about a page looking just right and I need to just let go. Maybe all it needed was some journaling.






















I haven't drawn a face in some time. I like how she turned out. My faces are so much better when I have a reference photo. This time it was from a magazine. I think I am going to try an paint her.

I'll have some more art to show tomorrow and a travelogue later in the week.