Journal along with me.............

I started an art journal last year.  Really not knowing where it was going to lead or actually what to do with it.  I found some downloads of journal ideas and decided to go to my local art store and buy a hardcover sketchbook.  

It was fun decorating the outside, but still uncertain about what I was going to fill the inside pages with.  
Using old book pages, doilies, texture paste, hand made stamps, paint, brushes and cut out letters, my journal cover was born. 

L

It took a year to fill the pages, sometimes writing my thoughts, goals and quotes I found.  Other times experimenting with colors, designs, class projects and ideas.  

                      On line class project. "She listened to the sounds in her soul." 

I found this old children's book, The Beacon Third Reader. I learned how to turn that into a smaller journal to keep on a  table side.  The binding is frayed, the pages are brittle, but that is what I love about it.  It has so much character, inside and out.  The illustrations add to the pages.  

Take a glue stick, masking tape and gesso.  Glue three sheets together with your glue stick, giving more substance to the worn pages.  Use masking tape or washi tape to tape torn pages.  Gesso on top, as little or as much as you want to cover.  Thus, creating great pages to paint on.  I love the feel of the old and the gesso together, creating a nice surface for watercolors. Even the tape adds an interesting element. After painting the feather onto the cover, I drilled a hole into the back cover, attached my leather string and wrapped it around as many times as it would go.  

Just one of the latest pages, while studying style.

I have added a few other journals since, smaller ones to carry with me.  I also like to find old ones like this

fabric one I found at an estate sale.  The pages are lined and slightly yellowed.  I decorated the front and back with collage papers, added stickers and a name plate to the inside covers.  Using a scrap of watercolor paper, I created my own book mark.  The "Stay Creative"  collage piece is a note pad from our room at Howard Johnson's Express.  You never know where you will find inspiration.  Old mail, postage stamps, letters, and so on.

 Fun journaling across the US on our way to Florida earlier this year. This is a cheaper sketch book I found at the craft store, but it works for sketching and experimenting.  Watercolor pencils, brush,  pen and ink.  Love the brushes that hold water, great to take along!

Just added this 1927 spiral sketchbook to my collection.  It's a 9 x 12 and most of the pages are blank.  It will make a great journal and oh the history.  A few loose pieces of art were tucked inside.  What a delight!

 

By starting my journal, I gained insight into my soul, art and life.  This was the beginning of a new chapter for me.  I may not add a page each day, but when I need to express, try something new or get an idea, I know just where to go.  Marking pages for future art designs.

I also have a fine art one where I can put class projects or more complicated designs.  

Hope you enjoyed our journal time.  These are just samples and insights into mine.  I hope you create your own stories, words and pictures. 

Put your whole heart and soul into it!!

See you soon.
xxoo








+

Summer days that seem to last forever......
            Those were the days.

Laying in the lush green grass and looking up at the sky. Visualizing clouds that looked like animals, people, monsters

and other objects.  

Riding bikes without a helmet.  Adding baseball or playing cards to the spokes with clothes pins.  Listening to the motor sounds that it made while you rode through the neighborhood with your friends.

Making forts, playing ball in the street, catching fire flies in a jar, climbing trees, hopscotch on the sidewalk.  

Using rocks to etch  the squares and numbers onto the sidewalk.

Metal roller skates were attached to your shoes.  You wore the key on a string around your neck and skated on the side walk.

Having backyard picnics.  
Taking summer drives in the country.
Running through the sprinkler.
Staying in the lake or pool until your lips turned purple.
Splashing in the puddles after a summer's rain.
Catching tadpoles in the local pond.
Walking to the nearby candy store with a nickle in your pocket.
Stayed outside until the street lights came on.

Life seemed so much less complicated then.  I only wish we can get just a little of that time back. 

These are the summer days I remember growing up in Ohio.

Warm, happy and days that seemed to last forever!

Hope you enjoyed going back in time with me....Lay back and look at the sky to see what art the angels have made with the clouds today.

Until next time,
Happy summer memories!


 



 

Flea Market Sundays

Whenever I need inspiration or a little design fix, I visit my local flea markets.  

Before I went over to my favorite shop, I stopped by my booth at Spring Creek to see if I had any action over the weekend.  Even though it was the 4th of July weekend, it looked as though things needed my attention.  

The weather was just perfect, cool and light rain.  Traffic on the opposite side of the road was bumper to bumper.  So many families returning from their weekend at the Lake.   

I made this sign years ago and have decided to keep the name.

Adding art work that you or someone else did, adds interest, color and compliments the old or re-purposed items.  My favorite thing is to take something old, clean it, repaint it and use it for something other than it was intended.

Love these old benches I found!

 From there I went onto my next favorite shop called, Leola's.  It was featured in a magazine a while back and is one of the top 6 antiques shops in southwest Missouri.  

This is more of an open floor design where all the merchants work together and have these unique vignettes throughout their space.  I always get inspired when I visit this shop and Kelly is always so welcoming.

I should have purchased the letter below, there may be much history behind it.   I always wonder with, who, what and where an item has lived.

Love combining new with old rustic pieces.

Ironstone just makes my heart happy.  There is such beauty in these old, sometimes chipped  pieces.   I cherish the few I have. 
I enjoyed my Sunday afternoon flea market trip.  But, truth be known, I was really out returning a movie and took this little detour.

                   I hope you enjoyed our Sunday afternoon flea market adventure as much as I did.

See you soon!

Trusting is simply believing; simply looking beyond what you can see.

 I found a canvas that I started a while back and decided to give it new life, trusting that it could turn into something better than what I had.  The purple from the original kept coming through and I decided to go with it.

I took some old sheet music, doilies, vintage papers, watercolor paper and some washi tape and added it to the canvas.  Adding a few connecting scribbles with my stabilo. Below is my supply list of the items used. 

A combination of Golden, Grumbacher and Liquitex paints.  Alcohol ink and re-inkers were also used.  Love to use the inks for drips to the background.  Make sure you dilute the alcohol ink with water before you begin, as it dries very quickly.  Just let it run and spray it with a water bottle for a fluid appearance.

I began sketching in  my figure, using a #2 lead pencil.  Darkened some areas with my stabilo pencil.  I just love these pencils, great for blending, especially with gesso.  As I continued to sketch, I readjusted the figure and the features.

Began developing the face with soft washes of burnt sienna, alizarin crimson and zinc white.  Blending back and forth between these colors and the white.  Using the stabilo to add more detail as it dried.  Adding touches of paynes grey and sap green hue.  The green is one of my new favorite colors to work in shadows.
Adding black charcoal to the darkest shadows and blending them out with a damp brush.

I added more drips and color to the background.  The heart shapes were an accident, as was her dress collar.  They came to life from my collage background as I developed the painting.  Adding more dark shadows to the figure and  white highlights to the face.  The words are printed off the computer.  I wasn't sure what this painting was going to say.  I printed out several inspirational words.  I went back to my drawing table and looked up on a box where I had this verse taped to the corner of it.  I felt it fitting for the painting and used it.   The textured stencil in the right hand corner (top and bottom)remind me of part of a stained glass window.

Sometimes as in life, the painting doesn't always go as planned.  There are mistakes and there are surprises.  Just trust you inner artist and see where it leads.

Simply trust and  believe in all your dreams!

 

                                        Summer Sunday afternoon walk through the neighborhood...

As I was finishing up tending to my flowers, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye.  A beautiful doe (a female deer) walked across our driveway.  I stood very still, clippers in hand, garden gloves and all.  Watching her graze on the empty lot next door, eating the fruits of the tree and bushes while she gracefully moved closer to me.  It took her a while to spot me and I kept thinking that I should run and get my camera.  In doing so, I knew she would be startled and run off. After she spotted me,we stared at each other for what seemed minutes before she pranced off and down the street.

So, I did go in and get my camera and decided to walk the area where I saw her run and enjoyed the peacefulness of a Sunday afternoon.  Although I never did see her again, I enjoyed the walk and snapped photos along the way.

                                A lovely statue and a good subject for my next angel painting.

The covered bridge leading up to a neighbor's home.  It is surrounded by woods and logs he is using to make a fence around the property.  As I was taking this photo, it began to rain and thought to find shelter under it's protection.  But, the rain only lasted a couple of minutes.

 

     Lake Springfield in the distance.  I had to walk through someone's yard to capture these photos.

                       I would have enjoyed sitting and swinging on this tree swing for a while. 

                                                

Love the way these lions are lined up on the empty lot next to us.  The one on the left had a visit from a bird and it almost looks as though he is crying.  Construction of a new home will begin next month and the peacefulness will be replaced with the noise and bustle of new construction.

This little guy was waiting for me when I returned home.  He has been living on our deck and lawn chairs for a couple of weeks now. 

   Thanks to my lovely deer visitor, I took the time to enjoy my surroundings and capture the moment.

   "I saw an angel in the marble and carved until I set it free"

                                                                     Michaelangelo

                                                             My latest journal entry
Painting angels has been an obsession with me lately.  Kate Thompson's class has taught me so much about backgrounds, plaster and veiling.  Love the look of veiling and blending the colors into the main image with Golden Acrylics and watercolors.  I have tried the alcohol inks, but prefer the softness of the watercolors.

I found these metal butterflies that someone discarded. Using these, and a well worn Prima stencil, I applied texture paste with a palette knife. Spreading it onto the shape and into the stencils. Placing it here and there to the background and allowing to dry.  Removing heavy areas with my palette knife .Then, placed it out in the sun to dry quickly.

Faces can be somewhat challenging at times.  If you don't feel comfortable drawing the features directly on your painting, draw it onto a piece of tracing paper first.  Then with a well worn piece of graphite paper, lightly add it onto the face.  Ever so lightly, just to get the placement.



Angels are shining down on us today.  A beautiful sunny and a good day to enjoy all that summer brings.

Watercolor painting step by step

                          Watercolor painting step by step

This is a quick tutorial, using Golden watercolors and Grumbacher opaque watercolors.  Angels have been my theme of late and this one was inspired by a photograph I saw in a magazine. 

A pencil sketch and light washes were added to darkest areas.  Background was wet on wet, a little salt and some splattters for interest.

I added gesso to the wings and white areas of the dress.  Then began layering washes.  Always leaving a little white showing.

When first two layers were dry, I went back and added more color washes.  Adding tints of other colors into previous areas to add depth.

Line work was then added to define the hair, features, flowers and wings.  Using a dark brown fine liner and a white fine liner, both water proof.   White dots were also added around collar, flowers and wings.

Hope you enjoyed the step by step process.  I hope to do more of these in the future.  Presently working on flowers from my garden.
                                                                    Happy Painting!