6/29/14

week 26 for 365/2 (part 2)

June 23-29

#178 - ICAD #26, watercolor pencils & water brush, micron pen - some more pattern play


#179 - ICAD #27, paintbrush clean off on background, washi and white pen word scribble.  the white dots are acrylic paint on a pencil eraser (I saw the idea on Jane Davies videos....it's one of her fave techniques)

#180, 181 - ICAD #28 and 29 - paints, stamps, dots, oil pastels,...

My evenings are devoted to ICAD at this point......don't have the energy for much else (lots of overtime at work).  But today I've been productive - I got inspired to make LOTS of postcard backgrounds so can move into card production this week.

Hope you had a great weekend filled with whatever you enjoy doing!


6/26/14

pinterest love

I have thousands of inspirational pictures pinned on Pinterest.  Sometimes it's my guilty relaxation.....watching TV, laptop perched on my lap, half my attention on the tube and half on Pinterest.  Before I know it, I barely know what I watched on TV and I've pinned tons of new inspiration pics.  That I have good intentions of referring to.....that I have intentions of trying out.....that I don't look at again for months!

So, tonight as I was trolling the site, I decided to revisit some of my boards.  Damn there's some great stuff there - so I'm sharing things I find inspiring.

From my "Stripes" art board:

Ice Dance by Linda O'Neill


Gunta Stolzl

Sirin Thada

Erin Ashley

Quilted art by Liz Kuny

Isn't it amazing what great art can be created with stripes.  I have even more cool images on my board.  Check it out.    I'll share more from another board soon.

6/25/14

week 26 for 365/2 (part 1)

June 23-29

#175  - ICAD #21, 22 - playing with pattern

#176 - ICAD #23, 24 - paintbrush clean off then some lettering

#177 - ICAD #25 a washi tape background and pictures from a 1940s Reader's Digest

Have a great week creating!

6/22/14

Remember last week when I had a blank space in my 365 pics because I wanted to make sure the person receiving the art got it before she saw it here on the blog.  Now I can share.....

I've been part of a couple of really fun round robin swaps (organized by Leslie - thanks!) and I've enjoyed the challenge and 'pressure' to make something specifically for somebody else.  Leslie's chosen theme was a bit challenging for me and I stewed and fretted over how to make it interesting for her and yet fit my capabilities.

Here's what I finally sent - our RRAJP  (round robin art journal pages) are made of a piece of watercolor paper folded in half, creating a mini folio so we can bind all the contributions together.  I'll show you my bound, finished book soon.  The folded page size is about 5x7".

A barn door - I cut the door windows so you can peek into the center image.  Made w/ marker and inktense pencils then smooshed with my water brush.


I'm not the best artist, but at least you can recognize the animal, right?  See the lines on the left, through the sheep?  That's the cutout where the window opens.  Drawn with micron, painted with watercolors.


The back page is a collage of a "barnyard conversation".  Whew - another challenge met and enjoyed.  Thanks Leslie for organizing yet another round robin - they're SO much fun!


week 25 for 365/2 (part 2)

June 16-22

#171 - keeping up with ICAD - here's a couple days of stitched collages made only from scraps on my desk (ICAD #17, 18)

#172 - inspired to do a little sketching - I picked some daisies and mini carnations from the garden and have enjoyed them so much, thought I should attempt a drawing.  Couldn't quite capture the carnations, but.....you get the idea, right?  Love my micron pen and inktense pencils!

#173 - next couple days of ICAD (#19, 20), collage, stamping, washi, etc.

#174 - Documented Life theme for this week (#25) was to fill a page with hearts.


And there you have it - another creative week in the books. How are your projects and challenges coming along? It sure gets harder to stay on track in the summer doesn't it?  I want to be outside more; it seems our weekends fill up with social engagements more.  Just have to make sure I make the time for some art room time! Happy first day of summer!  (unless you're 'down under', of course!)

6/18/14

week 25 for 365/2 (part 1)

June 16-22

#168 - MMSA mail art with a summer theme

#169 - two more summer postcards - to me summer is often about travel - taking a trip somewhere far or sometimes just in our own area......


#170 - Documented Life week 24 - theme to use book pages.  I made a collage of random torn pages, pushed it back with gesso.  Then it took a different direction than I'd planned and I found these painted book pages to cut/tore tree shapes and some sloppy marker trunks .....added words.

Stay creative!

6/15/14

week 24 for 365/2 (part 1 &2)

June 9-15

Didn't quite get two posts done this week......but I kept up with my ICAD production and did some other little things, so here's a peek at my week:

#158 - This week's MMSA challenge is to create artistamps to swap.  I made mine using PSE and some of my artwork (the circles one) and digital scrapbooking elements on the other two (only one shown).  Be sure to check out MMSA as a simple way to fill your mailbox with something other than junk mail!

#159 & 160 - ICAD # 9 and 10 some pattern play with my inktense pencils while I watch TV

#161 & 162  - ICAD 11 and 12 the top is a table scrap collage and the bottom one is my first attempt at a one staple collage (ala Tammy - great, fun idea!) .... it's all held together with a single staple.

#163 & 164  - ICAD 13, 14:  a tile pattern from a magazine extended with inktense pencils and some doodling on the bottom card.

#165 - round robin art journal pages - this one I'm not going to share the photo til next week because I don't want to spoil the surprise for Leslie.....it's in the mail Leslie; let me know when you get it.  Her theme was farm animals and OMG I struggled with it.  As it turns out, I'm kinda pleased with how the pages turned out.....you'll see soon. :)

#166 & 167 -  ICAD 15 & 16:  stamping background and a gifted bird cutout that I "framed" so it would stand out; #16 is another TV doodle.....That's what my doodles should be called instead of zentangles or zendoodles as some people call them - mine are all TV doodles (you can guess why!)


Whew - I'm caught up and back on track.....hopefully this week I'll get back to regular daily progress.....
Have a fun, creative week!

6/8/14

week 23 for 365/2 (part 1)

June 2 - 8

#152 - I didn't finish my Documented Life last week, so here it is.....challenge is to draw/make/sketch a house.


#153 - my first couple of ICAD cards
#154 - more ICAD, 3 and 4

#155 -  ICAD (#5, 6) mail art (ala Lynn and Karen though not nearly as oddball - where DO they find the words?)

#156 - ICAD 7, 8

#157 -  Here's this week's DLP (Documented Life) pages.....challenge: show Gratitude.....I made a list, one of my fave things to do.  While it's certainly not complete, it's what I was grateful at that moment.

This weekend was sunny and delightful and I got to be out enjoying it.....planting flowers and relaxing.  I was so busy enjoying this first taste of summer that I'm one piece of art short this week.....I'll catch up.
Hope you had a beautiful weekend too!


4 little questions

Over the last couple weeks I've read a number of responses to these 4 questions across the web.  I was asked to participate as one of Karen's 3 'forwards' but totally forgot last week, so here (a day late and a dollar short as my Mom would say), are my responses:

1.  What am I working on right now?
Well, as usual, I have many projects in various stages of disarray.  I'm joining in ICAD for the 3rd year so make a little piece of creativity every day for that.  But, prior to Tammy's challenge, I'd set one for myself to make something every day this year - it's my second consecutive 365 project and I'm exactly on track so far.  ICAD is just a way to accomplish two things at once.

I bought my stack of 4x6 index cards at the dollar store and always have them on hand because they also make a perfect postcard size, which is another thing I'm always working on.  It seems the postcards come in faster than I can return them sometimes, so I have marathon card making every few weeks to try to catch up. I always have a couple postcards sitting on my desk ready for a bit of left over paint or collage bits.
Finally, I always seem to have at least one canvas in process.  I work them slowly because it takes me awhile to figure out what to add, where to add it, what is needed, what I like and don't like.  Here's my current 12x12" WIP.


2.  How does my work differ from others in the genre?

The short answer is: I guess it doesn't much.  I don't innovate - I have yet to come up with a new technique, a ground breaking composition style or unique color combination. I'm in the "try this", no, "try that" phase of my art development.  I consider imitation to be the highest form of flattery (me imitating someone else).  From that imitation I feel like I can learn how to apply a certain technique or use a new tool.  From that imitation I learn what I like and don't like to do or to see.  Gradually I move away from imitating a style and incorporate just the pieces or colors or techniques that I like and it becomes mine - a conglomeration of all the imitating and influences that I've encountered.

I've been thinking a lot lately about my style and how I want to define it.  The thing is, I like so many things - how do I combine them in a artful way? As I've pondered, I've come to realize my strengths and loves. I love photography and have a huge personal library of photos I've taken all over the world.  I love collage and marrying textures and colors effectively.  I love playing with paint and the splash of color it can add to an image.  My goal - combine all three! I am going to focus on finding a way to incorporate my photos effectively into my art.  I'm not sure what that'll look like just yet - but it's going to become what differentiates me from others.....(she says hopefully! :)
Photo of arches at San Juan Capistrano

3.  Why do I create what I do?
I have created something all my adult life.  Cross stitch, quilting, cards, jewelry, whatever......I always enjoy learning and trying something new.  Why?  It's challenging, it's fun, it's necessary.  What do people do with their time who don't create something?  Dunno - I just know I prefer spending time with my glue, my bits of paper, my paint brushes.

4.  How does your creative process work?
Hmmm....my process?  Sometimes I have an actual idea, a sketch or plan or color that's calling to me and I can start and finish something with intention.  More frequently, I have no idea what I'm going to do - I just go into the art room, look around and whatever catches my eye, that's what I work on.


I'm so lucky to have a generously sized art room that is filled to the brim with 'stuff', so much stuff waiting for me to be inspired or to just "show up and do the work".  My work table is a reclaimed door, so it's nice and big and often looks like this - stacks here and there. My inspiration bulletin board is there to keep me motivated, some of my favorite creations or works in progress are tacked to the wall.  I LOVE my space - messy and yet inspiring. And I actually know what's in most of the stacks!

These utility shelves used to be in the garage, but work much better to hold my books, paper, found treasures and bins of ...... stuff.  My process is to grab a book and rip out a couple pages, grab some scrap paper, pick up a brush, grab whatever catches my eye and work with it.

So many people mention working to music or a TV on in the background.  I'm the opposite. I like a quiet house and almost always work in a quiet room.  I do have a radio in there, but it's rarely on.  I get so engrossed in what I'm doing, I wouldn't notice music anyway.  Sometimes I only have 10-15 minutes, so I dash in and make a postcard or work in my art journal - something that doesn't involve a paintbrush and clean up.  Some weekend days, I have all day so I putter in and out of the room - I'll work with focus for an hour or two then take a break and let stuff dry and go do something else.  An hour later I'm back for more and adding more layers or making more messes.  I love those days!

So, there you have it - a peek into how my brain works, how my creative process works and where I hang out.  The request for this series of questions was to ask 3 other bloggers to answer them as well.  Instead, I'm just putting it out there to anyone who feels inspired to answer.....do you?  How would you answer these questions?  I'd love to read your take - your process and background. Let's hear it!