Better Late Than Never...

A year has passed....how could a full year go by without a blog update? I've been artistic, but failed in documenting the creative moments. I spent a lot of time writing a story--my version of Fifty Shades--when its finished i will let you know where to download it. I will self publish it electronically.

I've worked a great deal in my art journal and I participated in the Avenues Street Fair and the Magna Art Festival. I sold all of my journals. Thank you to those wonderful people who have purchased my art.

In the past year, my life has changed, but the most exciting change worth sharing is my recent transfer to wine country.  I am now a California girl! I'm surrounded by sunshine, wine, and artists. I've joined a couple of Meet-up Groups. If you're not familiar with Meet-up, check it out on Google.  You can meet people with similar interests for shared events.

 I promise to add more blog posts. I am so inspired by the sunshine!!!

Below you will find a few of my recent art pages...

My Art Room Recieves a Face Lift

I read an article about a gentleman who's art room was an old converted sheep barn. Cows would walk over and look into the window. He built a new facility, only after the ceiling fell down around him. He said that a true artist can create anywhere and that the space does not have to be perfect. While I agree with him, I do know that my new space will offer me a creative atmosphere that I am proud to call my "art".

Take a look....

Words of encouragement and creativity surround the room

My favorite chair

The closet received the biggest makeover. The shelves were purchased from IKEA.
The boxes were purchased from Michaels.

This crocheted container from IKEA holds scissor, pencils, brushes, and more.



I finally have a shelf to display my journals.



Dream and Laugh

Excel

Imagine

The old table turns into a sewing table.
Every item has a place with this great organizational system.

Look in to my art room.
I love the natural light that streams into the window.

 

The Blog Time Forgot

Although I have been creating which is the most important part, I haven't taken time to post anything on my blog, which causes me to wonder if the blog-gods will rename my website "The Blog Time Forgot".

Work has been overwhelming still, but each weekend, I leave my blackberry by the back door and enter my art room with one goal in mind--don't come out until my stress has left my body. For the most part, my plan has worked. Each Sunday, I look at my computer thinking that I should share my work with you, but I knew if I opened the computer, work would get in the way.

I'm ready to get back into my weekly postings and once again share my journey into the world of paper. I'm still working in my art journal, and I've been intrigued with mixed media art. I just read a tutorial  on on using dryer sheets to make a very interesting piece of art. I can't wait to try it. Here's the article, in case you want to read it and try creating with a dryer sheet: http://thekeytomyart.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/dryer-sheet-collage-art-cloth-tutorial/

Of course my desk still looks like a hurricane blew through the art room, I have been creating several great projects.  Here is a sample of my most recent creations:





Creating in Chaos






This is a recycled paper bag. I layered several acrylic colors on the bag to cover up the advertisement. Next I sketched the birds, and sealed everything with a matte medium.

 


This small box was rescued from the trash and given a whole new life with a little paint. It works perfect to hold coins, rubber bands, or other small items on your desk.




I love taking items that would normally end up in the trash and repurposing the item into something useable. Add a little paint and some paper to this plain little box and you have a keepsake box. Add some small note cards, envelopes, and stamps and you have a perfect gift for that person in your life who has everything.



"My Special Place" box holds your best kept secrets.



This bird box matches my recycled-repurposed bird bag, but I'm not keeping this box. It is slated to be shipped to my niece in Ohio for her 16th birthday. Take a look inside.....





Inside the bird box.
I added miniature stamps, note cards, tags and a multitude of colorful pens.







My Spring project is to redesign the art room and to add mixed media creations to my portfolio. I will leave you  this week with this thought---

Do what you love.... love what you do!

I do, and so can YOU!

Taking Inventory

It's the first few days in December. I cannot believe that another year is almost over. I spent this first weekend of the month taking inventory. I happy to discover that I currently have 30 large journals.  And sadly discovered that not all of my journals are in excellent condition.

I pulled seven of the older journals from this inventory because I realized that my earlier journals are not as solid as my recent journals. The stitching is loose. I plan to cut out the old thread and re-stitch the journals with new thread coated in beeswax. I understand now the importance of the beeswax. It truly keeps the thread from stretching and holds the book together more securely.

Out of Chaos

I live and work and create in a world of chaos. No matter how hard I try to put order in my life, I always return to a chaotic atmosphere. To me, this is not a bad state of being. In fact, I thrive in chaos. I would like to think there is some order in my chaos, however, when you look at my desk, not too many people would think of there being any reasonable assembly of order.

Work has been chaotic since July 2011. I haven't had a full day off since July 4th. If I'm not working at the office, I'm working in the evening, at home. In an attempt to balance the work chaos, I chose to take four days off over the Thanksgiving holiday. Out of the chaos, I created three new journals, enhanced two small journals, worked in my art journal and baked four different kinds of cookies. Below you will see gingerbread people, peanut butter mice, pumpkin cookies with cream cheese icing, and double chocolate peppermint biscotti.



The kitchen table is full of chaos. My favorite cookie is the peanut butter mice.

In the art room, the chaos resulted in three new journals. 

I made two small journals a few months ago. I like the look and the feel of these mins, however, I just felt like they needed something. I took old photos of flowers that I photographed several years ago at Red Butte Gardens and cut them down to fit inside the journal. I glued the photos back to back on certain pages, leaving numerous pages in between for writing surfaces.

Finally, I made a new entry into my art journal. The poem, by Joyce Kilmer, is one that I had memorized in grade school. It is been among my favorite ever since.

 

 

I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is preset against the earth's sweet flowing breast. A tree that looks at God all day and lifts her leafy arms to pray. A tree that may in summer wear a nest of robins in her hair. Upon whose bosom snow is lain, who intimately lives in rain. Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.

 

 

 

While my desk still looks like a mess, out of the chaos some good things can be found.

 



Mindless TV and Friends

My art journal is a combination of experimental art and favorite quotes. The reason the art is experimental is because I have little to no real artistic talent, so I experiment with watercolor, drawing, and collage.  I've never been afraid to try something, at least once and for this fact, the art journal is a great opportunity for me to try my hand at being an "artist".

While I don't want my art journal to be a collection of quotes that I find from other books, or from a list of quotes off the Internet, I am always looking and listening for attention grabbers.

I am a TV junkie. I will turn the TV on for background noise while I work. My TV watching habits are very odd, according to my husband. I have about a half dozen shows that are my favorite and I watch rerun after rerun. Although the story never changes, it never ceases to amaze me how many new details I pick up when I watch a rerun.

One of my favorite TV shows is Criminal Minds. Three guesses to my favorite character. Ah, but that is another topic for another blog. During one recent episode, there was a quote that really made an impression on me and I wanted to enter it into my book:

A house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman.

I made a trip to the library on Saturday and found a book on creative letters. I used the technique to write this quote on the page opposite to my collage house that I made a few weeks ago.

My friend, Christa sent me a quote that she said reminds her of me and my interaction with Christmas lights.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: A Rainy Day, Lost Luggage and Tangled Christmas Lights

I've also worked on several pages that will be background pages for other quotes. I know I've said it week after week, but this art journal is the best thing I've done to expand on my creative urges.

Whether it's mindless TV or friends supplying the quotes, my art book is something special and I would encourage everyone to unleash their creative mind. Let me know if you need a journal so you can start. I will be happy to make one for you.



Sping paper on a snowy day

My hate for winter, snow and cold weather were warmed this week by the purple paper that populated in my kitchen. The first snow fall was October 5, 2011, but it only lasted a day on the ground. The snow this weekend was wet and heavy. It weighed on the trees and on my spirits. Before starting my paper making project, we had to remove broken branches from our neighbor's garage. Did I mention that I hate snow?

In order to combat the start of winter, I spent Saturday afternoon making various shades of purple paper to remind me of Spring.

I ended up with 30 sheets of paper. Next weekend, I'll be able to make five handmade journals. I can't wait!