self-compassion

acceptance

lightness of heart

Creativity in all it's forms can bring a lightness of heart and joy...even homemade party lights to hang in the dining room or patio. 

call it what you will

My latest grocery bag art journal...notes to myself on regaining balance in life.  Call it what you will...centering yourself, setting your mind on things above, regaining your spiritual perspective, taking every thought captive, practicing the steps of recovery...for me, they are pages of visual meditations.

balance

My latest art journal's theme is what I call regaining balance.  I began it as a visual reminder of those practices that most help me recover, heal, center myself, and regain my stability in an ever-changing life.  Not only will it be a visual reminder when I'm done, but it also serves as a kinesthetic meditation while creating it.  Spending the time to express in visual form the message allows me to take it in through my senses. 

So...regaining balance often has to begin with stop long enough to take a few deep breaths...proceed to telling the truth...what is happening and how do I honestly feel about it....

(See subsequent posts for additional steps.)

listen

White acrylic paint background over magazine cuttings, black Sharpie and black crayon, water color washes, and Distress ink in sepia around the outer edges of the paper.

be still

Being still and finding time to listen and think seems to be a fading art in a world bent on going faster and faster.

finding ourselves and losing ourselves at the same time

I'm loving the freedom that art journals give me to experiment and to work on one-page or two-page spreads.  With time always at a premium, I've begun leaving my supplies and journal projects out on the dining room table during the week so that I can take advantage of any down time that comes my way.

This started out as a painted page that I was ultimately dissatisfied with so I laid down a piece of scrap book paper, drew the feather with pencil, added some minimal color with gel pens, and completed the lettering with a fine tip Sharpie, gel pens, and a metallic silver Sharpie.

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.

courage

Inspired by a conversation with my oldest daughter and her sharing with me some links to TED talks by Brene Brown.  Background text is from a paperback dictionary from a thrift store, sealed with gesso, with lettering in pencil, fine-tip Sharpie, and colored pencils.

magnolia blossoms

This pen and ink and colored pencil drawing was inspired by a sprig of magnolia blossoms that a friend brought to work last week--exquisite in color and form.

it's ok...you're allowed to fly

This journal page is created with pencil, an extra fine tip Sharpie, and Crayon colored pencils.  I applied gesso to the brown paper first, which creates a fine texture on the paper that the colored pencils can grab.  The result is much brighter color than if I had used the very smooth original paper alone.

ancient footsteps

Lately I have been experimenting with handcrafted art journals made from recycled brown paper grocery bags and bound with carpet yarn.  This two-page spread includes ocean waves created with watercolor paints over tissue paper and includes spattering and some sponge work.  The quote is from a Bob Dylan song and reads:  I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea, sometimes I turn, there's someone there, sometimes it's only me.

first art journal

This is my first art journal and I'm using the opportunity to experiment with anything and everything--watercolors, pen and ink, colored pencils, acrylic paints, gesso, Mod Podge, scotch tape, and a variety of techniques.  I have two other empty art journals ready to go, again made with brown paper grocery bags and bound with yarn.  I'll take my favorite techniques and mediums and start creating journals with themes.

I made the cover with a piece of fabric glued on with Mod Podge and then trimmed with household masking tape.  I braided the ends of the yarn used to bind the journal.  I'm very please with my first attempt and can't wait to start on the next one.

forest path

This is one of my favorite paintings and the image that I used as a basis for the previous painting.  This was actually painted a few years ago and hangs in my reading room.  It included a technique I had never used before which was to lay down certain colors and then rub some of the areas lightly with the end of a wax candle.  The waxed areas then resist colors that are layered on top, preserving the underlying colors.  This created the highlights and rough areas on some of the tree bark and on the path.

content with less than perfection

With more than a week off from work, I was finally able to pull out that canvas I bought months ago and work on the painting in my head.  Step-by-step, I worked and I had determined beforehand that I would decide to be content with less than perfection.  It was an attempt and I would learn from it and I would hang it up in my home and be content with it...and on another day, I would make another attempt and apply what I learned and enjoy that result as well.

This is the largest piece I've done in a long time...another way I wanted to stretch myself.  It is a 24 x 36 inch canvas.  It's also in acrylics which I haven't worked in for years.

surprises

Often the most pleasing outcomes are surprises.  This small painting was the result of some basic painting technique exercises out of a watercolor painting instruction book.  The purpose was to practice with washes and painting wet-on-wet and though I practiced several times, this one turned out particularly nicely and I've had it hanging in my house in various places for a few years.  I love the simplicity of it and the placement and composition.  It also illustrates the fact that every single painting is unique even if you're copying another's work for the purpose of learning and that often the most pleasing results come as a complete surprise, even to the artist.

small bird, small wonder

An afternoon sketch while watching the birds at the feeder on the back patio.  Conte crayon on paper.

cyclamen

One of my most favorite plants...the mottled heart-shaped leaves, the petals like wings. This is a small painting, painted for the sheer pleasure of it.