Sunday Sketches

I haven't done this for a couple weeks so I thought it was time to return to doing a sketch on Sunday. To see what all the other lovely artists did today head on over to Sophia's blog The Blue Chair Diary

Art in the Middle of the Night

Yes it was the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep so I headed to the art studio. So many times lately I go in there and am just not inspired or just don't know what I want to work on. So I thought use a material you haven't used in awhile. So I grabbed these.

They are Shiva Artist Paintsticks and previously I used some on faces that I had painted in acrylics.  They are basically oil paint in a stick form. I never did an entire face with them before so I thought I would try that.

I now understand why I never did the entire piece before.   In addition to the face I also added the oil paintstick in the background which added dimension but made it impossible to write on.  So I ended up using rubons and stickers to finish up this page. They take 24 hours to dry but they blend so well that they are fun to work with.

This is the page I did next. In hindsight I may have had more success if I had gessoed under the face before I began. I had a hard time covering up the background, I kept adding more white paint but still had no luck. Plus the colors all started smearing in ways I didn't want them to. I lightened her up a little in photoshop, she is a lot darker in person.  Lots of lessons learned on this page but its all good when you have learned something.

So if you are feeling stuck in your art try using an art supply you don't use often, it may just surprise you. If you have insomnia I suggest a trip to your studio instead of all that tossing and turning. You'll feel better if you've made some art even if you are a little tired.

Inspire and Dream Journal

A couple weeks ago I won a give away on my friend Claire's wonderful blog Decide What You Want. It is this beautiful journal that was made by my friend Zorana.

The cover of this journal is so yummy, there is paper and fabric and words.  The spine has bits of fabric and buttons and beads.  Just feeling the fabric on this journal is a wonderful textile experience. I wish you all could hold it in your hands.

The back cover is just as wonderful as the front.

This is the inside cover.  You can see the pocket and to the right all the pages.  As you can see they are different sizes and shapes.  The papers in the journal are just fabulous.

Inside that pocket were 2 ATC's made by Zorana. I just love them.

Inside the back cover is also a pocket that has a zine in it. I just love this journal. I am so grateful to Claire and Zorana, thanks ladies.

A Bit of Calm in a Crazy Week

Its been a crazy week, this is the first day I haven't been just running here and there. It feels good to just stay home today. I will head out for an afternoon meditation but that is all I have planned. I seem to need days like this after a series of crazy ones. I have a few pages from my journal to share.

I wanted to try that cutout technique from my last post but I didn't have many pages left in my journal so I just did one cutout and used the graphic available. I used spray inks and stencils on the background, cut out the circle and then the vine was added and embellished.

This is the back of that page so although the vine is the same it does look different on a different background. I tried to use different colors on this vine. I use pitt markers for the colors. I think I will try this technique again in a new journal and use some different shape cutouts and maybe plan a little bit more what can be seen through the cutout.

This page was another spray ink and stencil background. I used charcoal and china marker on the background to highlight areas. I found the crown stamp at Michaels in the $1 bargain bin, what a deal.

On this page I had this wild background and it sat for weeks. I decided this crow wanted to be there. Instead of just painting him black as I normally would, I thought he should be purple. I don't know what he is trying to say but I am sure its important. This is a 2 page spread but I haven't done the other half yet, maybe the crow is looking away from whoever is on the left side of the page.

Something New in Art Journaling

I always love it when I can find something new in Art Journaling, and I always want to share it too. So here is another set of videos for your weekend pleasure.



Here she shows off her cutout pages. These look like so much fun to do. These are by Christy Soboliewski. You might want to check out this blog post too. She is using spray ink on a t-shirt that looks fantastic.



and here she shows you how she does it. There is also a free class that she is doing that is mentioned in the video and located here  I don't know about you but I am anxious to try out this technique.

I Love These Ideas

I found this video today, its all about using what you have to make items to store all your stuff in your studio. There are really some great ideas here. Who knew chalk board paint could be so versatile.

Back to painting

I haven't painted a face in a long time and it shows.  I must have redone this 3 times and finally just gave up.  I am just considering it an act of play and then I can move on and play some more. I like to think that she is imagining the house she will have, dreaming of a life yet to become reality.

This page took literally 5 minutes.  The background was already there.  After I added the stamps, this picture seemed perfect and the word symbolizes what I think she is seeking. It is so satisfying when things come together so easily.

The Results of De-Cluttering

For the past month or so I have been working on de-cluttering and organizing my stuff.  The most recent result was my weaving room, before that my office and desk and my art studio. The past couple of days I tackled the bedroom.  I cleaned out the closet and dresser and nightstand in two bedrooms.  I am now seeing such beautiful order that I truly love.

When I walk by my weaving room and see the beautiful color my heart smiles.  It was so worth all the work removing everything, painting and then re-organizing it all.  It gives me a lift every time I see it.

So back to de-cluttering there are the obvious results from doing it like getting rid of the old, letting go of what  no longer serves you and so on. I think it really makes you feel lighter when you have less to deal with, less to manage. One thing I have found is that we really don't realize all the things we have. In moving most of my possessions around I discovered many things I had forgotten about. One of them was this mandala I drew several years ago.  It was for an exercise for healing from this book

I can't even remember what I was trying to heal but I think the mandala is beautiful in its own right. The  author has you do exercises in white pencil on black paper first and then you graduate to color. I think colored pencil looks especially vibrant on black.

Have you ever found anything interesting when you have cleaned or de-cluttered your house?

Choosing to be Joyful

Being Joyful is a conscious choice and its one I often forget about. I made this page a few days ago but never really finished. I think the woman in the picture just embodies joy so that is where the page took me. The background is made with reinkers and Golden Fluid paint. I stamped right into the wet paint and also adding stamping on top.

Speaking of joy, I am so joyful that my weaving room is finished. Here is a little video tour of the room for your enjoyment.

Sunday Sketches

Here is my sketch for today. Lately this is all the art I seem to be doing. I do have my room almost finished so I can see some more art time right around the corner. I do look forward to doing a sketch every Sunday.

To see what other sketchers are doing head on over to Sophia's blog Blue Chair Diary. I hope you are all having a great Sunday!

Still Working On The Room

This is what it looks like when you walk in the front door. Its been like this for over a week and I am getting tired of it. This is some of the stuff taken out of my weaving studio. At least there is a path that you can walk through.  I also have another wall of stuff and then the kitchen table is full of books. It is very chaotic here.  The painting is going slow because I have been having problems with my right hand. Some arthritis and a trigger finger is making painting a real chore.

This is what the room looks like today. I am painting the trim so it won't be too long now. I so love to see the end of a DIY project. I always have to think about the end.  How things will look when your finished is always a motivating factor to keep going.

Some Journal Pages

This is a page I painted on a map for my Boadacious Backgrounds class.  I added this picture of myself in a far away land. I am trying to connect with Jamie Frasier (if you have read Outlander you'll know what I mean). By the way it did not work. I am in  a place called Avebury in England and the stones there are quite amazing.

In this one the background was done with gelatos and the bird just wanted to be there.  I like how festive he looks.

The paper, measuring tape  and ticket came from a paper pack called  Tattered Time.  It has some great steampunk papers and other old world looking embellishments. I thought a black and white photo would look great. This is a pic of my Aunt Margaret, wasn't she just beautiful.

This is one of pages where I just slapped on some paint and stamping and so forth.  I like to think that the door is leading to some exotic place.

Sunday Sketches

Here is my sketch for Sunday Sketches.





















To see what other sketchers have done today go here

Morning Rituals

image from the net

It was a couple weeks ago when I started feeling like my days just kept getting away from me. I never seemed to have time for anything.  I wasn't feeling my usual creative self. My intuition told me that is was time to start my days right with a morning ritual.  I had already started doing Morning Pages again and that was really helping but I felt like I needed more.

I am a member of the Goddess Circle at goddessguidebook.com and I recalled one of the freebies Leonie gave out was all about morning rituals. Leonie gathered together a group of amazing women on the web and they share their morning rituals.  There are some wonderful ideas here. You can get your own copy of it here Just scroll down to the section on e-books and posters, its the second one on the list.

So after reading it I came up with my morning rituals and I love how doing them makes me feel everyday. Here is my list.

* Morning Pages - three pages of longhand writing
* Gratitude, I make a list of things I am grateful for
* Grounding - I do a simple grounding exercise to connect to spirit and the earth.
* Set an intention for the day
* I pick a card from an Oracle deck.  I am using Doreen Virtue's Daily Guidance from your Angels.
* Eat a healthy breakfast
* Movement- I often include some kind of movement, walking, dance, yoga, something to get the body going.

Do you have a morning ritual?

A few more benches

Well my poor dog must have had quite the adventure. Wouldn't it be interesting if he could talk and tell me all about it. He couldn't move very well after he came home. I gave him one of his arthritis pills and that seemed to help a little but, all he did is sleep for most of the day. Today he is moving a whole lot better but still recovering from his night out. It amazing how an experience like this takes it out of you emotionally. While Flynn heals I have to do a little healing of my own. So I have just been taking it easy and catching up on my sleep.

So I thought I would treat you to a few more benches from the Greenbelt. These are all part of the Art You Can Sit On project. Here is what I call the Music Bench. The seat is granite.

These four little seats have paw prints I think of them as being bear prints but I guess they could be most any animals.
















This is the bike bench. When you sit on the bench you'll find that the bike seats are arm rests. Now how clever is that.

I call this the leaf and bamboo bench.  It is made of metal and is really beautiful in person. My photo did not quite capture it.

The part you sit on imitates bamboo.    I didn't think it would be comfortable to sit on but I found that it is in fact very comfortable.

Flynn is Safe

I was typing up a notice to put on Craiglist this morning when there was scratching at the front door. Flynn is back safe and sound. He was completely drenched and full of pollen or grain pieces.  I figure he came through one of the fields around here where they are irrigating.  He is happily sleeping on the back porch now. What a relief I alternated between trying not to worry and crying buckets of tears.

What a relief this is. Yesterday was not a day I would not like to repeat. It started off with Dave going to town to rent a rug doctor so we could shampoo the carpet. I was moving everything while he was gone. I hadn't gotten all the vacuuming done when the vacuumed died. So we went to town and spent hours going from one store to another. Looking at vacuums and finally decided on getting this.

Its the Dyson DC33 and I absolutely love it. It cost about 3 times more than any other vacuum I have ever bought but I think it is well worth it. I might actually enjoy vacuuming now. Well once we finally got the vacuum we headed home planning to use and start shampooing the carpet. Then of course once we were home we realized Flynn was missing. It was a combination of the garage door being left open in the front and then the inner door open in the back. Flynn just walked out and apparently had a great time. One of our neighbors had seen him but one moment and then he was gone. They felt bad about it so I am glad that I can now reassure them. Last night I think all of our neighbors were driving around looking for him. That was so nice.

He is now sleeping it off on the back porch. He may need a bath later to get all the mud off him. Meanwhile our carpet dries. Since I moved most of the items in my weaving studio out to clean the carpet I kept thinking I should take this opportunity to paint the room. I have been meaning to paint it for some time but just put it off because there is so much to move.  I decided to just have kaos rain a little bit longer.  I'll be looking at paint chips this afternoon.  I am thinking of a shade of aqua. I love the calming feel of that color.

Flynn is missing

My dog Flynn got out today while we were in town shopping for a new vacuum. He had been by a neighbors house and hour before but they didn't think about confining him. They turned around and he was gone. We have looked everywhere, been to the pound but no luck.  I'd appreciate any prayers you may have in your heart that he returns home safely.

Sunday Sketches

Happy Fourth of July to all of you in the US, happy Monday to everyone else. I forgot to post my sketch yesterday so here it is, just a little bit late,

To see what other sketchers have done go here.