Magical Journal Journeys

Inspired by two very different artists . . .

A double blog post for our Magical Journal Journeys collaboration

because I'm so far behind and trying to catch up.

What have I been doing to cause these circumstances?

I'm blaming it on the veggie garden. I've either been out there picking

tomatoes, peppers and eggplants or I've been in the kitchen

cooking, pickling, freezing, drying, jarring etc. so they don't take over the house.

I'm not complaining. I'm just saying. That's my excuse.

It's great to have a productive garden ~

I'm just saying I have a lot of respect for farmers. Imagine if you had veggies 

coming out your ears and still had to take care of the cows, pigs, and chickens.

Enough of that! I'm supposed to be talking about artists.

Matisse

Lisa Wright's chosen artist is Matisse. 

He was a master of color and had no fear of it. He even went so far as to say, 

“Seek the strongest color possible. The content is of no importance.”

He often used many different amazing patterns in one painting.

FRONT

I used two of the patterns I painted in Jeanne Oliver's 

“Studying Under the Masters” class to create a double sided tag 

with 2 of Matisse's paintings attached.

It was so much fun copying Matisse's patterns

and I love the way he never bothered to make everything perfect.

They were so much more beautiful for not being 

laid out with a ruler and painstakingly painted.

BACK

He did many figures, mostly women, and many of them were nudes.

Again, they were never a perfect representation of the human body

but still had such substance and realism anyway.

That was something it was very difficult for me to imitate. I tend to fiddle too much 

trying to make something perfect (which of course is impossible!).

I don't know why Matisse had a longing to be a vermilion goldfish,

but I think there are worse things to be. They are quite beautiful, 

and don't have fishermen angling to make them into supper.

Lazing around in a pond all day could be quite the Zen experience. ;-)

Next journal arriving at my door was Katina Wright's whose chosen artist is 

Jennifer Judd McGee

I was not familiar with JJM's work and it was a delight to discover her.

Her pieces are very modern and 21st century. But I can still see that there is

something similar to Matisse's work...maybe it's the use of patterns!

I had a bit of a technical (or tactical?) error with Kat's pages.

I did a fold-out panel but did not think to put it on the right side instead of the left.

All of the journals are traveling unbound this time and I didn't think 

that I was putting the panel on the side that would be bound (smacking self in forehead).

I'm hoping when the ring binding is in place it won't matter...

I had fun with the multitude of patterns and the zentangle-like pen work!

Jennifer's landscapes and towns are like fantasy places and 

I immediately thought of Oz and added the hot-air balloon

and the quote by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North.

Kat cleverly added a sign-in page with a square for each artist to fill.

I had done these zentangle-ish illustrations for my main pages

but didn't use them. They fit perfectly on my sign-in square!

There you have July and August!

I have the very last journal on my desk here in September.

It happens to be Priti Lisa's whose artist is

Modigliani

I'm thinking Modigliani won't be TOO hard, 

but that's what I thought about the other six artists, and I was wrong.

(Okay, I should have said seven artists. 

My own choice, José Manuel Merello, 

may have been the most difficult of all.)

So, off to the garden with hopefully some time for art this afternoon!

Since I haven't participated in Paint Party Friday in ages,

I'm linking up there also.

Have a great weekend!

Studying Anahata Katkin

Kim's Journal

I finished Kim's pages and have sent them on to Priti Lisa.

Kim's artist is Anahata Katkin, whose work I love!

Anahata's paintings feature flowers and sometimes birds and other animals. . .

many beautiful faces. . . and flowing lines and pretty text. 

Since I love images like this, it was so much fun trying to work in her style.

Kim included some amazing cut-out hands for us to sign in with.
Here are the front and back of mine.

The back side of my two "Pink" ladies:

(I wish I could follow this advice, but I need to work on the faith aspect.

I tend toward a Murphy's Law philosophy... more like ~
“Leap, and then wonder what the H-E-double-toothpicks were you thinking”!)

The first four artists who work on each journal collaborate
on the front cover. The last four collaborate on the back cover.
I can't believe we are now half done, but I was the fourth one
to work on Kim's front cover. It already had such awesome art
on it and looked to me to be finished! So I added some swirly
designs ala Anahata in spots where I could!

Anahata's designs are much more graceful than mine, but it was
fun and calming to draw these, kind of like doing Zentangles :-)

Birds and Flowers challenge

Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

Happy (3-day) Memorial Day weekend, if you live in the US!

Channeling Georgia O’Keeffe

The first month of our art journal swap!

Going in our usual order, I have Gemma's book first. 

We've each selected artists for our books and Gemma's artist is Georgia O'Keeffe.

Panic!! I was (am!) very intimidated by Georgia O'Keeffe. Her style is so precise.

And perfect. Perfectly precise and gorgeous.
The exact opposite of my style, whatever that is :-)

The O'Keeffe paintings I'm most familiar with are all

landscapes, flowers, or abstracts.

So I did one of each in Gemma's book...

There is a place in New Mexico called Shiprock.

I don't know that Georgia O'Keeffe ever painted Shiprock (maybe too touristy for her),

at least I gather it's a bit of a tourist attraction...I've never been there.

Sadly I've only driven through New Mexico, and never got to stop.

 The foreground drove me nuts, and I wondered how in the world I would be able
to fill the rest of the page before March was out! That's when I got the brilliant idea
to create the rock out of tissue paper and paint. The process sped up considerably!

And I found in my stash some incredible green paper with gold fibers in it.

LOVE the way it tore to look like dry desert plants!
I received something wrapped in it and saved it for the perfect use.
I think it may have been Kat who sent it?
 
Georgia's quote, which proves how different she must have been to me:

“You know I never feel at home in the east like I do out here ~ 
and finally feeling in the right place again ~ I feel like myself and I like it.”

The desert has never welcomed me...I feel uneasy in the desert
and miss the lush greens of the east.

But once I started putting these pages together,
I could see that there is much beauty in the desert. I know Gemma loves it,
and posts the most awesomely beautiful photos of the landscape!

So on to the next page...
I have posted this before when it was a WIP.
Hasn't changed too much except for the quote
and a bit more done on the green parts.

And last...but should have been first lol ...
my portion of the front cover of Gemma's book.

We have 8 artists total, and the first 4 will collaborate on the front cover
and the last 4 will work on the back cover. My portion of the front
is in the lower right corner. I rather copied one of Georgia's abstracts.
I originally thought to use the design and maybe change the colors.

Then I realized that the colors she chose
and the placement of them were perfection.
What a genius she was!
Changing colors would have thrown the whole thing off in my eyes.
So I used her colors for the most part.

Georgia O'Keeffe's painting.

Mine is flat and hers has so much more depth
and shading. Maybe someone will add a bit more
to make mine look better...?

So, I'm looking forward to receiving the next journal,
which is Stephanie's. Her artist is Chagall.
More challenges! I feel more comfortable with Chagall.
But I may be surprised just like I was with O'Keeffe...

Magical Journal Journeys

Lisa's Rust Journal

Lisa (the Wright One) chose one color for her journal.

(Unlike some of us [me] who had a hard time choosing just one hue!)

Lisa's color, Rust, is not only a color, but also a substance.

So, lots of possibilities there.

I had an event-filled July and would have 

changed most of what happened if I could, so when I finally got 

the welcome time to sit down with Lisa's journal

I had visions of bits of rusty treasures . . . keys, buttons, and 

other interesting found items. I discovered something about myself then . . .

I've always thought I was a hoarder of such bits and pieces. But soon found out

there was not a rusty item in any of my stashes. I was disappointed!

But with no time to go on a scavenger hunt, 

or to sit around waiting for things to rust,

I had to create rust with what I had on hand ~ paint.

Rust calls attention to the passage of

time

This is another one of those double posts ~ Inspiration Avenue's

theme this week is "Time" and I think rust and time go hand in hand.

The final journal page. I think rust has a sadness to it, emphasizing 

times past, things no longer wanted or needed.

Eventually disintegrating completely. As has been pointed out

(thought it was Neil Young, but I discovered it was said before he said it)

"Rust never sleeps."

I liked the complimentary colors of the orange rust and the blue sky

to signify there is always hope in darkness.

 ++*~*•-:¦:-•:*'♥*:•-:¦:-*~*++

(Below) Not part of Lisa's journal, but I love this photo for its rust.

Times have changed in the Steel City since the early 20th century.

No longer a bustling, smoky steel town. 

The smoke stacks are quiet, the sky is blue not gray. 

An abandoned steel mill rusts on the Monongahela River.

I'm also joining Paint Party Friday this week.

Please pop over to PPF and also Inspiration Avenue for a visit!

Magical Journal Journeys ~ First Stop!

I've finished my pages in Gemma's journal. 

We've all chosen colors for our journals and Gemma

chose purple. She told us we could also use splashes of

magenta, turquoise, lime green, and orange.

As you can see, a bit of a splash is not in my repertoire

and I kind of got carried away. Most probably because I love all of 

those colors and they look smashing with purple!

I added 2 pages at the back with a pocket for tags.  

I just realized I forgot to photograph my tag.

Oh well, 'twill be a bit of a surprise then :)

I'll be packing this up to send to Priti Lisa this week

and in another week or so I'll receive Stephanie's.

In other news. . .

Apple has informed me that my hard drive is being recalled.

So I will be taking my computer down to the the Apple Store

to have them put a new one in. I have to back up everything on my computer

because what I'll get back is a completely blank one :(

I know some people back up their files regularly. I am bad and I do not.

Let this be a lesson to me. The silver lining is that I was forced to go out and buy 

an external hard drive for back up, and now it will happen automatically.

Why am I telling you this? I will be computer-less for 2-5 days

while the Apple geniuses do their work. Not that you would miss me...

the post right before this was 2 weeks ago. But just in case.

Which reminds me to say I will also be out of town for a bit in April,

so you actually might wonder. 

Have a superb week! 

♥ Make art every day ♥

Stencil Test Drive

Fun Borders

 

It's time for another Stencil Test Drive!
Jessica Sporn has created a new line of stencils 

(available at Stencil Girl Products). She asked me and some other artists 

to "test drive" the stencils of our choice and 

I was immediately drawn to the Fun Borders stencil.

I really wanted to try out this varied collection of creative stencils!

So many different styles on one sheet,

but I have to say I was drawn right away to

the stars and spirals on the left side.

So much so, that I created a painting that I used as my 

Christmas card back in December when I first received the stencil.

It's perfect for  a night time sky!

I had a lot of fun using the stencil to make washi tape...

(the borders and a long strand of tape are meant for each other :)

The top one is the checkerboard pattern with a bit of embellishment,

and the purple one was made with a portion of 

the ornate, swirly stencil, third from the left.

The one below was made with my favorite stars and spirals, of course.

I've used the tape in an art journal...

This journal is starting on its round robin travels today.

I'm mailing it off to Priti Lisa, the first stop on its nine-month journey!

Another journal page, using one of the borders.

This stencil reminds me of ancient art, maybe Aztec or Egyptian?

Before I added the flowers:

I stenciled this border onto a Gelli Plate print...

I love these ornate patterns!

One more thing I created that I forgot to add last night.
I was reminded of it when I saw the awesome bookmarks
Judy Shea has made with the stencils and polymer clay.

I used this elegant border to make a bookmark using glass beads.
I love the raised, shiny texture of the beads and the intricacy of the stencil.

I actually just wanted to experiment with glass beads and the stencils,
but I love the way this came out, so I think I will use it as a bookmark!

There are 4 other artists who selected Fun Borders for their test drive.

Drive on over and see what they've created:

 

Marjie Kemper

Natasha May 

Maria McGuire

Judy Shea

And visit Jessica's blog as well for her wonderful art

and to see all of the Stencil Test Drives as they happen!