paper feathers

Spent yesterday afternoon putting together another recycled paper bag art journal and tried my hand at paper feathers which turned out beautiful.  I love the challenge of making something beautiful out of what I have on hand.  Both ideas I found on Pinterest which provides thousands of creative ideas to get me going, but the amazing wonderful thing about art is that even with thousands of people making similar things, everyone's is perfectly unique and different from any other.

playing...doing something just for the fun of it

Art journals allow me to attempt smaller scale projects--one page at a time, and give me the chance to experiment with different techniques and mediums.  Here I tried out laying down a patterned tissue paper with Mod Podge and then drawing on top of it with a fine tip Sharpie and a white Pitt artist pen.  Sometimes I let a page sit for a few days before I decide whether I want to come back and add to it or just leave it as it is.

When I'm not happy with the results, I simply paint over the page or cover it with another image or paper and start over.  It's good practice for me since I'm concentrating on resisting perfectionism in my life.  One art journal blogger says not to think to much, don't make it difficult...just have fun with it and if you don't like the results, cover it up and start again.  Having recently read The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown, this is a good way to practice for me.