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.

Hand to Heart journal page spread

 

Sorry, I couldn't get a really good pic of this mixed-media journal spread. There's a lot of metallic pen stuff on it and it didn't pick up well. It's a spread inspired by Nolwenn Petitbois and her class Journaling Our Heart Out in 21 Secrets.

 

Negative thoughts are written under the paint and hand on the left and positive thoughts are written in the heart. I took a bunch of layers off, because I hated the way it was looking, then added a bunch more back. Still not happy with how it looks, but moving on...for now. It was a fun exercise!

Broken Hearts and Scars journal page

Remember this?

A bunch of shapes drawn and colored onto a journal page? The image that came out to me is on the finished journal page below. The words in the the heart say, "Broken hearts and scars teach compassion and build character." The page is built up with many layers of paint, writing and different techniques that were inspired by Dina Wakely's class on Intuitive Painting Layers in 21 Secrets 2012 (see sidebar for link). I believe registration closes Oct 1, but the classes are up until Jan1.

I like her a lot. Just wish the gold leaf pen marks on her clothes showed up better on here.

I have a double page spread inspired by another class almost finished that I've been working on this week too, despite life happening. Plus this morning I watched Alma Stoller's video on making a cereal box journal, which turned out very cool. That's on my list to try!

Oh, and I wrote one poem while sitting in the Dr.'s waiting room while hubby was gone in to see the Dr. with his dad, and a second one while I was sitting outside at my brother-in-law's house watching him and hubby work on his latest toy, a bobcat. Same day! I'll post them later on my Scribbles From Rabbit Hop blog. Right now, they're still scribbles in my Moleskine pocket sketchbook.

I guess I had a pretty creative week after all, and I'm very thankful that I have creativity to keep me sane and soothe my soul.

Have a happy and creative week! Thanks for visiting! :)

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. :)

Updated Background Page

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend with family and friends. It was a lovely long weekend here. I updated a page that I wasn't particularly happy with and thought I'd share it with you, because I now like it much better. :)

I don't know if you remember the page on the right, but I tried to make a harlequin print background, because I love harlequin print, but it didn't come out quite like I wanted. It was too dark and the whole thing was off. I can not measure with a ruler to save my life and have it come out right.

Anyway, I pulled the top sheet off a two-ply paper towel that I had used to blot up Bubblegum pink and Turquoise Dylusions spray ink with, tore it into pieces, then glued the pieces on top of the harlequin print with matte gel medium and let dry. It added texture, modified the colors some, and made it more interesting, at least to me. I like it much better now, and will definitely use it as a journal page.

I've also been working some more on the large canvas with the "contrary angel" on it, and I have made my first articulated clay paper doll person, except for the decoration, and I'm still undecided about whether to leave her bald or give her hair, and I'm slowly organizing my workspace, among other smaller projects, which I'll try to share as I get them done.

I'm not doing a a lot of much these days. My mind wants to do a lot, but my body doesn't want to do anything, which is very frustrating to me. I just feel really weighed down, for some reason. Maybe I can get back on track soon.

Have a great rest of the week! :)

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! :)

The Self Portrait Experience-21 Secrets 2011

The mixed media covers for a journal titled "Metophorical Me" that I did in Connie Hozvicka's 21 Secrets classes last year. It is to be filled with self portraits in various categories. I haven't gotten that far yet...but I will. :) Now that I'm seeing it on here, I'm not sure that I like the gesso I rubbed over it to tone it down. It looks a little chalky to me, at least moreso than I wanted. I'm thinking I may take some of the whiteness back off it. I do love the covers though, and look forward to adding the pages between them.

See the kitty in the lower corner? That's my favorite stamp, and I've lost it among all the clutter in my workspace. :/ Hoping I find it when I start organizing...



Playing With Dylusions Spray Ink

Some background pages I've been playing with using mixed media and dylusions spray ink, which is very intense. I only ordered five colors, bubblegum pink, vibrant turquoise, london blue, lemon zest, and squeezed orange. I really like them, but am still learning how to manipulate them and considering picking up a few more colors. I had great fun on these pages just letting go and playing, excuse moi, experimenting. :) The one above has a little gesso rubbed over the inks in spots, plus Asian and musical stamps added. As you can see, the gesso added a pastel look.

The mask for the figure consisted of a round bottle cap, two keys on a ring, and a straw paper folded in half, and the small mask is the cap off an ink cartridge. The dots were made using a piece of paper that I had punched holes in to make a stencil, of sorts. Great fun!



This on was actually the last one I did, and I used a paper towel that had been saturated with ink blotted off the harlequin page. I rubbed it on this page, sprayed some yellow over it, and added pink dots with the home made stencil full of holes.

The page on the left was made using a bought stencil. I sprayed the stencil, lifted it, turned it over, and used it as a stamp on the other side of the page. The right page was a disaster, as I used masking tape to do a harlequin pattern, painted it orange, missing part of the diamonds, because I didn't do it right. I used a brush to paint the orange in the missed diamonds, which made these lighter than the others. Hated it! Sprayed the london blue over the whole thing, let it sit a minute, layed a paper towel down on it to blot up the excess ink and it is what it is. I kind of like it...

There's that holey stencil on the left again! I laid a mesh bag that had held fruit on the right hand page and sprayed blue ink over it. It made a good stencil I think.

Another holey stencil page! The orange dancing girl is from a bought stencil and the ghostly figure above her is where I laid a hand made sponge stamp down in the wet ink. The right page is a hand made stencil, which I laid one on top of the other.

I have no idea what these pages will eventually morph into, if anything. Sometimes I fall in love with background page and don't want to cover it up. Sometimes I just add words and sometimes lots of layers of lots of stuff. We'll see...

 If you visit http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2012/04/creative-every-day-check-in-april-23-29.html you can click on the links to visit some wonderful artists in all genres. 

Hope something on here made you smile. :)