ART JOURNALING IN AN ALTERED BOOK

These are a couple pages from a large 10" x 14" altered book I'm doing for a year-long class called Life Book 2014.  This was a lesson on using spray inks by Tamara LaPorte.  It was fun.  The page was gessoed and stamped. Dylusion inks, sent by my friend Cynthia Henderson in Texas, were sprayed and blown.  The silver leaves were hand-cut from a foil coffee bag.

MORE HOME MADE ART STENCILS

France Papillion does "Journal on Monday" every week and she is quite the creative.  You'll enjoy her take on making stencils.

THE DARKEST NIGHT

I started this art journal layout wanting to do something to demonstrate home made stencils to my students in our altered books class.  As an American in Ukraine I don't have access to all the goodies offered in the big mega-stores in America.  And I don't want to teach my students techniques they can't repeat on their own.  Now, I must admit, as I roam the internet or read a Stampington publication, I sometimes desire those new materials and goodies I see out there.  The flip side of that, not having them, can sometimes extend one's own creativity.  So the stencil figures you see here came from figures I cut out of magazines.  Rough cutting I glue to cardboard, then cut out again accurately.  If careful with your cardboard cutting step you can end up with both a stencil and a mask.  Here I used the cut-out mask and dabbed paint around it.  The leaves in the lower corners are what were left from a leaf stencil.  I used regular household spackle plaster and pushed it thru the cardstock stencil.  Being paper I had to throw it out after these two.  Now if one could laminate these they would last a lot longer.

By the way, I called this an art journal and it is, but all my art journaling is now done in altered books. This is an Amway soft cover catalog we didn't need.  Anything bound is subject to my scrutiny for an altered book. . . softecovers included.  And it has a spiral binding that will be fun to hang pretties from to decorate.

I also noticed that this page fits well with a challenge that is going on now at Kat McNally's blog, "words to soothe the weary soul."  Self-compassion is today's prompt.   The words on my page are a reminder that when we are tired and depressed, the morning comes and all looks better.  I learned that lesson years ago.  Now, I don't take my thoughts and emotions so seriously at night....I may just be tired.  Kat's blog:  http://www.katmcnally.com/2013/12/reverb13-day-19-self-compassion.html?showComment=1387432800751#c8887281586528337712

The last step was to add the verse on the tag:  "Weeping may endure for a night, but Joy coeth in the morning."  Psalm 30:5.

Hope you like it.  I love reading your comments.

Be Friends with Failure

 As artists we always have this interior critic running a dialogue.  "Is this good enough?"  You're not really an artist."  "Should I really be doing this?" This little cartoon will help your perspective.  Click the link below to go to "doodle alley, comics that nourish."

Be Friends with Failure

KEEPING A JOURNAL by W. Cleon Skousen, 1996

Short, quick, but so dear.  Don't miss it.

Julie Burstein: 4 lessons in creativity

Journal Pages Published

An honor for me is that some of my art journal pages have been published on the site called Faithfully Yours. Just click on the title to go to the site. Then you can click on the pictures as she featured several. I am blessed that she has chosen my work to show.

Free E-Book

Hey Folks, Check this out. The terrific magazine, "Cloth Paper Scissors" is offering a free E-Book of journaling techniques. Add these tools to your art journaling tool box and you'll be ready for some more fun and creativity. Just click on the title to go to the spot. Oh, and yes, that is one of my journal pages. I grow those ferns in my yard.

ART JOURNAL PAGES

This is a page(s) in progress. I love the old vintage pictures worked into it. What do you think?

Visual Journal Online Workshop Series - Strathmore Artist Papers

Visual Journal Online Workshop Series - Strathmore Artist Papers Check this out folks as this is a free workshop.

2010 Life Path Challenge Week 1 Art

This challenge is a new question every week. You can jump in anytime. You can go back and do the queSions you missed or not. The good thing about this is that there are no rules. You can interpret the question in any manner you choose. A 7th grade class is writing and some are doing art in different forms. I could see this as a great opportunity to an "About Me" book to later gift to someone you love. I'm am doing tags as that is small and doable for me weekly. If you are doing this I would love to hear from you.

A Few Journal Pages

Sometimes catching people out in public only gives you a few minutes to catch the main gist of their movement.
As you can see, people and houses are a recurring theme for me.
As you can see, I'm a doodler/drawer. I like to play.

Self-portrait. I'm the only one who wlll sit still long enough for me to draw in any detail. I do a lot with just pen. It has it's limitations, but always stretches me to work harder at defining the image.