Pushing Past Limitations

There's red under here. Really.

Limitations. Sometimes they are given to us. Sometimes we make them ourselves. As someone doing art journaling, nursing my limitations was not in my favor. I became aware of my color deficiency some years ago when taking my first course with Vivienne McMaster. 

So when Kelly Kilmer challenged us to use up the paint on our palettes I became recalcitrant. "No, I will not use that red" I said. My painting partner also aired her dislike of red. I then took a moment to think about why I was taking a class instead of following my instincts and proceeded to use that red. (Yes, I agree. I should have thought before childishness refusing in the first place.) You know what? I liked what came out of it. If I hadn't used red then, I would have missed an opportunity for self growth. 

A few weeks later during our Artist's Retreat, Cindi Huss playfully jibed me about my aversion to red. Later on her blog, my name and red were mentioned in the same sentence. I took that as a challenge. The gauntlet had been thrown down. My next page spread would heavily feature red. 

Well, Cindi, here's some red for you. 

See?! It was red. Really. Well, before I added the pink and purple. 

I still use pink and purple as my neutrals. What can I say? I can't get enough of them. Nevertheless, learning to add colors I don't normally use will stretch me and make me grow. So I'll be giving it a try. 

P.S. I have learned so much from each of the teachers I mentioned above. If you have the opportunity to take a class with them, take it. 

Class with Kelly Kilmer Part One - Visual Poetry

Recent visitors to RMBM know that I have been enjoying exploring art journaling. Friends have heard ad nauseam about how excited I was to take my first ever class with Kelly Kilmer at Kept Creations in Whitman, Massachusetts. Well, lovelies, I was not disappointed. It was a wonderful day of creating, learning, laughing and stretching my limits. 

The first class was Visual Poetry and boy was it eye opening! Kelly's work is very striking, powerful and empowering. I did not imagine that I would create the pages I did. I love them! Looking at them it is hard to imagine that they were created by me. I tend to sit and giggle when I look at them. It's simply delightful. 

We collaged, painted, ripped our paper into pages, bound them and then started the actual collage and journalling process. Each layer added depth and strength. 

I finished the cover and the second page in. One page needs some finishing touches and the rest….well they are like an empty playground. They are ready for all kinds of things to happen. Open to possibility. They are conduits of bridging the gap between taking the class and regular life. Looking at them inspiration lurks enticing me to explore. Kelly, you are genius!

Taking a class like this, in person, stretches you. Looking at art journaling videos at home I learn so many things. I am grateful to live now, when so much inspiration is easily available. Still, there is nothing like a real time, human based class. One in which our hesitation is noted, our fears are confronted and our tendencies are checked. More than once Kelly challenged me. She challenged us all to reach out of our color comfort zone. 

Guess which colors I gravitate to….did you even have to think about it? 

Kelly challenged me to add a dark color…maybe black. It was surprising and invigorating. I even liked it… a little. The woman who sat next to me, whose name I remember but will not divulge, used black with abandon. Her pages dripped black, oozed black and boy were they powerful. I started wondering if I didn't want to use black too. I settled for adding a bit here and there and remaining true to my current vision. 

There are so many pages to explore new things. To try new layouts, new tools, and new prompts. 

Each will stretch me. 

Each will teach me something new.

Near the end of workshop number one, Kelly casually posed the idea that one way to approach a design is to challenge yourself to use up the color on the pallet. I looked down at the pallet in front of me and saw a lump of untouched red. It was a big lump. At first I said "no way" but later repented and started swinging the red paint around with abandon. 

I found there is more in me than meets the eye. 

The back cover is testament to the fact that pink and red can coexist quite nicely. 

Enough for one post. I will save class two for another post. Thank you, Kelly, for a wonderful class! Kept Creations, you will be seeing me again.

Recycling - Stamping and Printing Sunday

Pinterest is such a wonderful tool for learning new techniques. Using the styrofoam packing from the grocery store to create stamps is just one of the brilliant ideas that can be found through Pinterest. Fortunately or unfortunately, the grocery store I usually frequent doesn't use that kind of packaging much. So I only get to try this method out when I'm shopping off the beaten path. This week held just such an opportunity! The above photo shows the stamps I made. 

Stamping on top of gelli prints.

I'm in love with this one!

 This stamp makes me think of washi tape. The gears are already turning as I think of new ways to use it. 

The original cherry blossom prints were a little disappointing. Adding this new stamp ramped it up for me. 

Instead of rolling the paint on with a brayer I tried using a brush to add the paint and then using the brayer to roll over it to get a better pull. As you can see in the print above there are dangers in this method. As the brayer hit the surface it slid, creating a blob. I developed the habit of laying the foam down, gently adding pressure with my thumb and rolling across one section at a time. There are still mistakes, but fewer of them. 

 This one is particularly striking to me as the original paper had left me cold. I start to see possibilities in it. 

How to do you handle a piece that didn't come out as planned? Do you move on or do you fiddle with it? Hope you have some happy surprises today. 

Double the Fun with Double Exposure Photography

The Double Exposure Love course with Vivienne McMaster has been a blast this week. It was just the creative outlet I needed. 

When the class started and I realized that I could use my gelli prints as a background I was entranced. Many a combination of photos included some of my artwork. Experimenting with other elements was so enticing that I ended up exploring those as well. I'm sharing just a few of the photos here. 

After all this time that I withstood the temptation to start an Instagram account, it made sense to take the plunge. The course participants were sharing on Instagram and I notice many art journalers are abandoning their blogs for the immediacy of Instagram. Feel free to give me a shout over there at https://instagram.com/lynda_shoup/. 

Jelly Beans and Gelli Prints - Stamping and Printing Sunday

Happy Easter from our Fern. As you can see he hid the eggs right where he could find them. 

Doesn't the color of the eggs look lovely? So I thought, why dye eggs this year when I can dye something else? 

While I had my share of jelly beans today, even more sweet was the results I got gelli printing. I am working on adding layers for depth of visual interest. Hope you agree that these prints look great with their added layers. 

And just this one from scratch. Love the color combination. 

Join me in stamping and printing next Sunday.