Painting Angels

I've been missing here for a while. I've started a six month long creative Adventure with Kelly Rae Roberts. The course I'm taking is called Spirit Wings. By the time the course is done I will have completed six angel paintings. 

I love art journaling and mixed media is part of all that. I wasn't so sure about painting faces, though that is a trend in art journaling these days. I don't think I would have gone the route of adding faces to my art if it hadn't been for this wonderful opportunity. The timing was great and Kelly Rae Roberts is a powerful course leader. So I showed up.

You can see my first painting above. It's pretty amazing because I would never have imagined I'd paint like that. My big dilemma was the wings. I had done the face and hair and realized that I didn't have a clue as to how the wings should go. I started cutting the features out of tissue paper. I thought if I wrote my meditations on the feathers using a white pen they would be invisible - a note just for me. Well, I was wrong about that. They show up well and I love the foggy aspect of them. 


Looking forward to learning so much more in the next five months.

Transformation

Transformation - it's everywhere. 

Especially in this season. 

I attended a art journaling hangout on Google with Amy Maricle a few months ago. She has some really helpful things on her website, so make sure you go and check it out. 

Today looking through a spread I did during that time I decided to take my pens out and start the transformation process. 

Here's the page I decided to transform. 

First I switched directions and turned the journal on it's side. The circles definitely looked like roses to me, so roses they became. I added tendrils and leaves. 

After a few layers I added some words.

Viola! It is transformed. 

The really nifty thing about it is this: 

I am transformed as well. 

Changing Seasons

Changing Seasons. Bend to the season or be bent by it. 

The seasons are changing. Simple statement. So much truth to it. 

Our days are going from dreadfully hot last week to delightfully pleasant this week. I see more random spots of colorful autumn leaves. Not a lot, but enough to remind me that summer is near it's end. 

The weather is hardly all that is changing here. What's that they say? "Nothing is so constant as change." 

I have always been a fan of Gandhi's quote "Be the change you want to see in the world." I love the empowering feeling that this lonely person can make a difference. Tonight as I think about it I realize that you can also read that as an admonition to choose the kind of change you prefer. I think Gandhi meant the former, but that doesn't mean the latter isn't true. As they say "Choose your poison" "Choose your change" resonates. Life changes regardless. You might as well be in charge of the change you go through. 

Paint on My Fingers Again!

See the paint on my fingers? It was great to see it there and even more thrilling to see the design of the stencil printed on my fingers. 

It's been a busy month for so many reasons, not the least of which is preparation and the beginning of a new school year in tandem with taking a 5 week course for Professional Development. 

After submitting my last assignment today I decided to fling some paint around in my art journal. Remember that journal? 

Not my usual color scheme, but this page started when I spread excess paint on it from another project some time ago. I don't even remember what project that would have been, but it's fun to go with it and see what happens.

Here in New England we are starting to see trees changing colors. The serious business of fall foliage season is still a ways off, but we are heading towards Autumn in small increments. This color scheme reflects that, despite my resistance. 

I included this picture to show where I used a mesh vegetable bag and some spray color. It created a really subtle mesh pattern. I wanted something more. You can see lines created by the stitched end of the mesh bag dipped in paint. (below) I am looking forward to seeing where this piece takes me. 

Back to School

I've spent a good chunk of my summer at school cleaning up, rearranging and getting the library ready for another year. Each summer I take on a big job. The library is starting to look like the vision I had for it. 

So now I need some signage. Professionally created signage is optimal, but I'd rather spend our dollars on books. So I decided to make my own using the skills I've collected by art journaling. Actually, they are pretty simple, but I think they are cheerful. 

I hope to get some more made before school starts. I know I'm going to enjoy seeing them each day. 

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. 

Getting Started with Art Journaling

My first Art Journal Page. Funny enough, I posted the process of making this page, but never the finished product! 

I'm kind of new to Art Journaling. I've been at it for less than a year. When people find out that I Art Journal they ask questions. Some of the most common questions I receive are:


What is Art Journaling?

(The easiest way to answer this is to show them. And I have plenty of resources on my phone, friends. I'm kind of the Grandma who has an album of her 19 grandchildren. And I'm ready to show it at the least provocation.)

Why Art Journal?
(The answers to this question will have to wait until another blog post.)

Where did you learn?
(The internet, baby! I got hooked on it when I saw some on Pinterest. Since then I have a board so large that I am now separating it out into two boards - One for Journals, the other for Art Journaling Videos.)

How can I get started?
(This is the question I am going to answer in this post!)

My Art Journal Journey

Click here to see my Pinterest boards. 

Pinterest. Pinterest is the root of thousands of women finding new hobbies and neglecting housework.  Some of you Pinterest enthusiasts dutifully perform your responsibilities before pinning that delicious  chocolate cake recipe. I cannot claim to be one of you. Pinterest is a form of meditation for me. It reduces my stress, which is a good thing. 

I pinned Art Journal pages that inspired me for months. I wanted to join in, but didn't feel I had the time. So I looked at photographs and watched videos. (I am shy to admit that I bought a few books, ok more than a few.)

And then Rae Missigman changed all that. I saw one of her 15 minutes of Art Journaling videos. It blew my mind. In a mere fifteen minutes she created a whole spread. I sat transfixed. I was absolutely changed and charged up. I would recommend anyone to watch her videos if you want to believe you can start. If she could do a whole spread in 15 minutes, surely I could slap down one color of paint.

So I started. The first day I gessoed a page spread. I left my space set up. Each night I came home and added something - or not. Some nights I just looked. I just played. Eventually pages emerged.

Now I have several journals going at once. I work on what I feel like working on. I use a page in one journal to wipe of the paint brush I used in another. I love this.

Finally, I was fortunate enough to take a course with Kelly Kilmer in June. I learned so much from that in person experience. It was great.

My recommendation to those who want to start Art Journaling:

1. Go on Pinterest and look at Art Journaling. There are many people posting photographs. Make a board yourself of the ones you like. You'll start to notice what techniques, colors and styles you are drawn to. Give yourself a little time to do this.

2. Watch some videos. Do not miss Rae Missigan's videos. You can really see how much can be done.  Watch some others as well.

Favorite books that add to my knowledge of Art Journaling, Geli Printing and book making. 

3. Check out some books, Art Journaling magazine, the library and the bookstore are your friends. 

4. Get some paint and start playing. Pay special attention to tutorials that show you how to make tools out of ordinary materials you have around the house. Don't start investing in a lot of stuff until you see if you actually like it. Bubblewrap is a great first texture tool.

5. Join some groups online. There are a lot of free Art Journaling challenges/classes/groups. Joining a group that has prompts and sharing of work will stretch you. You will also have a chance to learn from the other members. I've done some of this.

6. Make an effort to do Art Journaling in person. Take a class. Invite a friend to journal with you. Find a group or start one. I find that Art Journaling is great to do alone. It is also great to do with others. They are different experiences and you get different things out of them.

Did you find the courage to move ahead? Does it seem approachable? Do you still have questions? How did you start? When/how did you first hear about Art Journaling?


Thanks to Ricki Treleaven for asking me about my favorite Art Journaling books and inspiring this post.