What I'm Working On Part One

Hi All!

Praying for all of you in the path of Hurricane Sandy. May you all stay safe.

 I also want to apologize for having to put the word verification back on my comments. I hate it too, but spammers have to ruin it for everybody it seems. I guess they have nothing better to do. I took it off, but had to put it back, because I was bombarded with spam every day it was off. :/ Your comments really mean a lot to me and I appreciate every one. Sorry it has to be so much trouble to leave one. :(

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of what I'm working on this week with ya! OK? :)

This is a page where I used up leftover paint. I see a cowboy boot in there! I like it! :)

She has the beginnings of a nose!

These two pictures should be reversed, but the bottom one is a 36" bed doll that I have sewn and stuffed. Her arms and legs have not been sewn on yet. The top picture is the beginning of her paper clay face, using techniques I learned in a cloth and clay workshop with Jane Desrosier. I made a much smaller doll in the workshop and it turned out pretty good, so I'm trying it on a large one now. Fingers crossed that it works! For now I'm calling her Dollie Doll.

I've had this 5x7" gallery canvas painting started for a while. I worked on it some the other day, but it's still very much a work in progress. This was an image that emerged out of paint, and she forgot her neck, I think. Hope I can fix that! :o

One of my favorites! Three old friends!

 

It had been a while since I did any doodle sketches, so I've been doing one a day in my 18x24" sketchbook for a few days. These are a few of them.

 



 

This a doodle sketch in its beginning stage. I close my eyes, make several marks and swirls on the page, then let an image immerge. Nothing has stepped out in this one yet...but it will. Sometimes the images are a bit shy and it takes a while for them to show themselves. :)

I can use these images as a base for drawings, paintings, journal pages, tear them up for collage, or just enjoy them for what they are. They help keep my drawing/painting looser, plus it's good brain exercise and fun.

I was going to show you some more wips, but I had trouble uploading the rest of the pics, so there will be a part 2 to the blog. I'm kind of like a butterfly flitting from project to project. :)

The next part will include some prints from playtime with my new Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate. I've been wanting one for a long time, and thought they were too expensive, but I finally broke down and ordered one. Love it!

I've worked some on all these projects, plus I put ANOTHER layer of paint on Contrary Angel's wings (Remember her? the very large canvas/mixed media painting I started months ago), wrote a poem draft, and brought down a Granny Square crocheted afghan that I started years ago to finish. The poem will be on my other blog when it's finished.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing what I'm doing. I'm sure having fun creating and learning stuff! :D

Wisdom Circles/Mandelas

Wisdom circles/mandelas inspired by Dion Dior in her workshop Wisdom Circles in 21 Secrets. The one above was supposed to be on a black background. I didn't have black paper or gesso, so I used a dark sheet of scrapbooking paper. I learned a whole new process for creating mandelas, which changed my thoughts about making them from negative to positive. I love making them now!

This one went a little wonky on me, but that's okay, it's freehand and about the process, not about a perfect outcome! It was actually my first one. The one above it was my second and a little better.

 

I painted a few layers on the paper then created a mandela over it on this one. I want to do one and paint the different design elements in too.

 

I could add a lot more to all of them, but decided to stop where I did and move on to the next class. :)

 

My father-in-law has been very ill and I've been spending a lot of time in waiting rooms lately. I always have a sketchbook and pen in my purse, and I've found this and found words poetry to be great time passers to get my mind off things.

SELF ACCEPTANCE (journal page)

Life has been happening here the last few days and I have not had a lot of creative time, but I did manage to get this journal page done from the "15 Minutes to Sanity" class with Gina Rossi Armfield in 21 Secrets. She inspired me to make this page. I wrote large words and a poem in the background, but I used too much paint and stuff over it so the letters don't show through like they're supposed to, but I know to watch that the next time. So I learned from it and I had fun making it. It's a message to myself! :)

The one below is only in the beginning stages, but I already see the image I'll pull out for the finished page. Do you see it? Will show you when I'm done. This one is inspired by Dina Wakely in her class "Intuitive Painted Layers."

I also wrote two poems using found words while listening to music. I had some time to kill while  staying at the hospital last week. :) They here http://scribblesfromrabbithop.blogspot.com/ if you'd like to read my attempts at found poetry.

I have lots of catching up to do chore wise and the ac has decided to freeze up on us on a really hot muggy day. Hoping the repairman gets here soon. We're thinking we may have to have a whole new unit since this one is old and running on a wing and a prayer. We were just hoping it would make it through this summer though. I guess the extreme heat has overworked it. Small aggravation compared to the big picture though. :)

Thank you so much for visiting, and I hope you saw something that made you smile!

This Week's Creative Endeavors

Life is happening right now, big time, but I managed to get in a little creative stuff last week. This week, not so much. You can go to http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/07/creative-every-day-check-in-july-23-29.html and click on the links to see a lot of wonderful inspiring work from other much more creative people than me. :)

Sunday: I blogged and posted on my blog and was inspired by other peoples' blogs.

Monday: I wrote down a list of words that spoke to me, wrote them on a seperate paper, then cut them apart and rearranged them into a poem. The words on the right are the ones I had left over. I put them in a box with other word blocks for future use.

I decided to glue the words down to the left page, then wrote it out below in gelly roll pen. The page still needs some work, but here it is for now. I also used some spray inks and a doiley stencil on the right page after writing the beginning line to a story, but I forgot to take a picture. :/

Tuesday: I gessoed two pages and added some fluid acrylic paints before taking my father-in-law to the doctor out of town.

Wednesday: I added handmade and found stamps with fluid acrylics to the  above pages, before taking my mama out of town to pick up her new glasses, and I got a haircut. The word Hope is written in green and needs a little more work to make it show up better. Anyway, I like the pages.

Thursday: I gessoed two more pages, using gesso mixed with fluid acrylic paint smooshed together by closing the pages together to add texture and pattern, added some homemade stamps, some rubbing plate/ink images, some spray ink, and some pencil accents and writing, and gessoed two more pages before taking my Mama out of town for a scan to check her arteries. This one is a reminder to myself. Not sure it's done either!

Friday: The above pages are a note to myself, and you can tell I was a bit frustrated. I wrote and doodled on the pages with water soluable crayons, pastels, and pencils, then rubbed them into the gessoed pages with my fingers, then I went over the pencil writing again to sharpen it back up and sprayed a sealer over them.

Saturday:  I know I've already posted this one, but I used an water soluable oil pastel over the whole thing, then rubbed it in with my fingers. Some of it came off the dried acrylics, some didn't. I like it better than the white background. It doesn't look so stark. I still need to bring out the images, so it is still a wip. I also gessoed two more pages.

I also experienced Chinese food for the first time. I loved stir fries already, but the restaurant was a whole new experience, and I loved what I ate. No raw fish though! :)

Hope you are all having a wonderful creative week, and thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the internet! :)

What I've Worked on This Week-Mixed Media

Another busy week has flown by! I'm not having as much time to post as I would like, or to create either, but I try to do a little bit of art/writing every day despite what else is going on. I still can't seem to actually finish anything, so this week I've practiced some of the wonderful techniques for mixed media and art journaling that I've learned from Connie Hozvicka, Misty Mawn, Leah Piladas, Katie Kendrick, the many teachers in the 21 Secrets workshops, and many others.

I thought I would share each day's endeavor for the week in one post instead of several smaller posts. These are all very much works in progress. Here goes! :)

Sunday, we had company, but I managed to fashion Lolly (paper clay doll person) a hat before they arrived. I left it to dry and enjoyed the company, then watched a movie (don't remember what) and took a creative nap. :)

Monday we had to take hubby's dad to the Dr. He's been very sick. I managed to take a doodle sketch that I had previously done on a book page and transfer it to a gesso prepped 9x12" page before we left. I don't know why it transferred so pale a gray (it was drawn in black marker), but it will have paint layered over it anyway, so it's ok. I also collaged pieces of rubbings that I had previously done onto the background and left it to dry. PawPaw had a long Dr visit and hubby went in with him, leaving me in a quiet waiting room. I read 4 more chapters of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" on my Kindle while I waited in one of the most uncomfortable chairs I ever sat in. By the way, I've seen this movie 3 times, so far. :)

Tuesday I slept really late, then had to take mama to a neighboring town to pick out her new glasses. The most creative thing I did all day was help her pick them out and decide what I wanted to eat. Sorry, no pictures!

Wednesday I painted Lolly's hat and evened out the skin tones a bit,

collaged a previously sketched on book page onto a gesso prepped 9x12 journal page, spritzed it with Dylusions ink sprays, and left it to dry,

wrote on gesso prepped page with black marker, added water-soluable crayons, and brushed gesso into and over it, then dripped water on the page and let it run,

decided I didn't like it, so I added fluid acrylics and ink, letting some run, then wrote on it with a red marker, liked it better,

added a plastic doily stncil on the sponge stamped page with Dylusions spray ink, and made pictures of the pages.

Thursday I tore pictures and text out of a Vanity Fair magazine that spoke to me and collaged them with gel medium onto a 9x12 gessoed page and left to dry, prepped 4 more pages with gesso,

added blue tinted gesso with an old credit cart for texture to 2 of the prepped pages,

brushed quinacridone burnt orange tinted gesso onto the other two prepped pages, left to dry, then dribbled titan buff paint on one page, closed the facing page on top of it and rubbed them together, then pulled them apart and let dry. I see all sorts of images!

I also tried dripping and drizzling 3 different color fluid acrylics on a gesso prepped page and rubbed the facing page over. There are all sorts of images in these that I can enhance and bring out.

Plus I took an Anne Rice book page, wrote down words that jumped out at me, cut them apart, and arranged them into a poem, which I then collaged to the bluish journal page above, and I made pictures. It was a fun morning!

Saturday I took 2 previously sketched on book pages and transferred them to 9x12 gesso prepped pages, wrote text with pencil, and added water soluable crayons, then brushed water over, and added more on top.

So there you have my fun for the week. I may have left something out, like movie watching, but this is the jist of it. Hope you enjoyed my journey of practice! :)

Background Pages to Wake My Sleeping Muse

When I can't seem to focus creatively, as has been the case for several days now, I make background pages for my art journal. They don't take long, they're fun, and they help get me back in the creative flow when I'm stuck, and I'm stuck on several projects right now. I have them half done and can't decide where to take them next, so I'm having fun just making a couple of pages every morning until my muse quits napping. :)

Below are some I've made in the last few days, using a 9 x 12 inch Strathmore mixed-media visual art journal. I used a variety of media, actually whatever was within arm's reach around the table. They included spray inks/dyes, acrylic paints, gold leaf pen, black marker, water soluable crayons and pencil, torn fast food bag, plastic and paper doily stencils, and emotion.

I also used a variety of techniques learned from various teachers online, both free instructions and not, to which I'm eternally grateful. They include stenciling, bubble wrap, stamping, lettering,  spattering, runs, lifting, mixing media, water dripping on wet paint, drawing, painting fearlessly, not trying to be perfect, saying what if, spraying, brushing, a bit of collage, doodling, left over paint, abstract, etc., and emotion.

The lighting was not so good, and I'm sorry about that. :(
 

I call them background pages, but truth is, sometimes I love the page just the way it is and will only add some writing when the right words come to me. Others will have more elements or paint/collage added to them before the words are added. Either way, I love doing these, and I learn a lot from just playing without fear, and each one of them comes from whatever I'm feeling or going through at the time, so they are all a diary of me, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

Hope you saw something on here that made you smile. :)

More Background Pages, A Poem Draft, & A Sketch

I've been playing with the Dylusions spray inks and found stamps and stencils some more. I need a few more colors, but I'm having fun with what I have. I haven't been creating a lot lately, or doing anything else much for that matter, and making background pages is a quick way to get some art in on the days I don't have time to really get zoned out into my creative place. Plus, I have a stack of pages already started to add to when I do have time to "zone out."

I love letting images emerge out of the ink/paint as it dries. Sometimes it takes a while for them to reveal themselves to me and sometimes they jump right out at me. I've drawn a light pencil sketch around some of the images that have emerged. That doesn't mean that I will keep them when I start actually working on the page, but it's a reminder of what could be.

This one was done with a paisley, or large comma shape, that I cut out of a sponge. I sprayed the inks directly on the sponge and stamped onto the paper.

I love these colors and used a variety of stamps and stencils, handmade.

This page started off with with an old cd, which I sprayed over (some ink ran under it and merged), removed, and then spritzed some other colors onto.

The paisley sponge stamp with 2-3 colors sprayed onto the sponge and stamped randomly around the page.

I wrote a couple of poem drafts onto this page, then stamped the backs of some stencils that had been sprayed over onto the page to clean them off. I like it. :) If you want to read the poems, as finished as they're probably going to be, you can go to my other blog http://scribblesfromrabbithop.blogspot.com/ , where most of my writing is.

Just a quick little sketch I thought I'd throw in. I was attempting something new in her head tilt. I didn't quite accomplish what I meant to, but I like it. Besides, today is another day, and I can try again! :)

Contour Lines Coloring Book

Disclaimer: The above page and the ones following are contour sketches for a coloring book for a drawing practice assignment in the Misty workshop, and they were done quickly, so don't expect too much. :)

They are supposed to be contour sketches, but mine turned out to be mostly contour/line sketches, done with pencil on a 9x12" mixed media paper. Each sketch is the base for whatever form of media I choose to use to develop a finished mixed media page, or, if I choose, I can just texture and paint them, etc.

I know, on the one above I didn't leave room for the flowers and they are quirky and squatting. I will fix that when I actually start working on it, probably. Or maybe not...I like quirky...

I stopped at twelve, though I could have easily kept going. For the time being they are clipped together in the order I drew them and to a page in my journal. Most of them are objects I could see around my work table. The faces emerged from my imagination. I can't wait to see how the pages develop when I start playing with them, she said, clapping her hands in glee.

Sorry, this face is not from my imagination. It's my little Pekingese angel, Kibbles Marie, my constant companion for almost sixteen years, who left us in 1997, and whom I still miss every single day.

I will try to remember to repost the sketch with the finished page as I do them. Hope at least one of them made you smile. :)