The disruption of routine as we know it and what to do...

Quirks of nature are nothing new to weather patterns but I don't think anyone expected Halloween storm Sandy to rise up from the Caribbean and wreak such destruction on the northeast US coastline.
There is a certain twinge of survivor's guilt in thinking "Wow that could have been me". 
But the undeniable truth in such circumstances, is that the world does not end.  Your life may have been forever disrupted or altered but elsewhere, people still get up in the morning and go about their daily tasks.
On such a large scale of news coverage of an event,(weather related or not) it is hard to be unaware of others' misfortunes.Unaffected? Well, the US is a big country. If a personal misfortune happens on a small or individual scale, people usually are simply unaware.

Time has a way of moving on-with or without us. Often..... well, it's all about what begins to bring your world back into focus. Art is one of those areas that encompasses so many arenas of healing...music, dance, painting, sewing....all of it good and all of it necessary in some format. And when the pull begins to happen, even just a little, you know you are on the emotional road to recovery. Art in any format, is good.

Blue Corgi  (sold)

Flash in the Grass 11 x 14

Miniature art journal

Moonstruck 16 x 20 (sold)

Artsy Journeys tends to be more about what I personally explore  in the arts-away from the discipline of portrait painting which has paid my family's bills for many years.














I love to create portraits-every face is different. Every clients wants are different. But there is NO denying the energy and release and total absorption that comes with exploring random areas of art-experienced in it or not. No holds, no boundaries, no rules. But the main value of creating art in all its various forms?  The temporary experience of being in the ART ZONE.  It's a good place to be. Whether your art project takes 30 minutes, 2 hours or a day, the Art Zone is a private area in which everything else fades away and your mind, regardless of what has transpired around you, is absorbed in the creation of art. It's a very good place to be.

May you be there soon!

Exploring an Art Journey in a Care Facility

Think art journeys are only for the busy moms, young kids, single people or retired people? How about those in rehab or extended care facilities?
We go twice a month to such a facility and the rewards are priceless :-)
Some of these beautiful people have never painted. That's right-never! So last week we painted "Sunset in the Mountains" and for an hour they were engrossed in the Art Zone. A wonderful place to be when life has changed all around you!
Try it sometime!

I call that “liberating,” not “cheating”!

A great article from Cloth,Paper,Scissors for those of us who add or are starting to add fabric to designs! What I especially love is the comment at the very end of the article in reply to the writer's 7th grade home ec teacher telling her that using  fusible webbing was "cheating." How silly! In our art classes, we often use a template to help encourage new painters to enjoy the experience of painting. As they take more art lessons, the desire to "hand draw" their subject matter comes naturally  and without the guilt that someone is always too ready to impart! Art is fun. Let everyone enjoy it at their own level and pace :-) 

Don't Stitch, Just Press and Go When I first came to work at what was then Quilting Arts, I heard a lot about WonderUnder®. I honestly thought it was some kind of bra for about a week. Turns out (for those of you as clueless as I was), it's a brand of fusible web that holds two textiles together, instead of stitching, for quilting and other fabric art. ‘Color Composition’ fused fabric collage by Bethan Ash. The only personal experience I had with a product like this was Stitch Witchery®. I used this fusible tape in 7th grade to hem my skirts. I thought I was clever, but my home ec teacher criticized me, as she considered it “cheating.” Imagine my delight in discovering that in art quilting, fusing was not only not frowned upon, it was encouraged! Fusing fabric makes it easy to appliqué or create a fabric collage without having to stitch a million little seams. You just press your fabric into place. Well, it's almost that easy. Each fusible product works slightly differently, so it's important to read the manufacturer's instructions. And you want to match the fusible to the fabric. WonderUnder and similar products work well for cotton fabrics. MistyFuse™, a gossamer fusible with no backing paper, works best for sheer or lightweight fabrics, such as silk. In her comprehensive book Vibrant Quilt Collage: A Spontaneous Approach to Fused Art Quilts, artist and author Bethan Ash offers tips on how to get the best results from fabric fusing. Here are some I think are most helpful. Wash and iron your fabric to remove any starch before fusing—do not use fabric softener. Fuse your fabrics by ironing the rough side of the webbing to the reverse side of the fabric, using a dry hot iron (cotton setting). Evenly press from the center to the outer edges and iron for seven seconds—if unsure, follow the instructions that come with the webbing. Too much heat applied repeatedly will weaken the glue, burn it into the fabric, change the fabric color or make the fabric stiff. Also, over-fused fabric will no longer adhere to other fabrics. To protect your ironing board and iron, place a sheet of baking parchment under and on top of the fabric when fusing. Fabric that bubbles or ripples when fused will flatten out when the release (backing) paper is peeled off. Always let the fabric and webbing cool before you come to remove the release (backing) paper. Remove the release (backing) paper in one piece by first fanning with a finger and then swiping your hand between the fabric and paper. Feel for any gummy areas that the iron didn't cover and re-fuse these. If the webbing separates from the release (backing) paper, it is still usable. Just place the webbing on the fabric, put the release (backing) paper on top and fuse into place. Save the release (backing) paper—it can be fused to over and over again. Use it for assembling fused collages, storing fused scraps, protecting the ironing board, and pattern-making. You can fuse to either side of WonderUnder release (backing) paper. Cut webbing-backed fabrics webbing side up when using a rotary cutter, so the glue side does not stick to the mat and cause the fabric to fray when it is removed. It is also easier to see the areas where there is no glue. When cutting a pile of webbing-backed fabric, do not stack with the webbing sides together or the pieces may be difficult to separate. Up to three layers of backed fabric shapes can be cut out at one time. Save all your fused scraps. They are great for tiny elements and collage work. Once you have your fabric fused, you can use the series of simple hands-on exercises in Vibrant Quilt Collage to help you develop your instincts for free-cut and fused fabric collage. I call that “liberating,” not “cheating”!

Exploring with Abstract Art

Abstract paintings-a marvelous artsy way to explore almost any array of art in any form!
So what do i create when I move away from my much loved portraits?
Well, abstracts of course with a touch of mixed media!

 

Art in all forms!

So here I am in Seattle, Wa waiting for my daughter's first baby ...who has opted to take her time entering this world :-) thus giving me more free time than I originally thought that I would have!
Since a   trip to Washington State from North Carolina limits what can be carried, my unplanned free time means I did not bring any art to work on!

So a trip to the local Michael's resulted in a supply of felt, embroidery floss and a variety of fun stuff that goes back to my pre-painting days when my kids were very small and time and space were limited!
Yep I did a bunch of sewing back then and it was a substitute for my inability to paint as I wanted. And heck since I have a little granddaughter coming (maybe by this weekend) my daughter has already hung this little embroidered owl on the baby's wall :-)

Once I remembered how to do a blanket stitch among others (it all comes back) then I would up with this little, simple fellow-perfect for a nursery-made simply from cut out felt pieces and hand stitched (I could have used a sewing machine! Just 8" x 10". Will post some more as I work through this-leaving my poor artist husband Steve to hold down the fort in NC!

Fiber art, felting and a drive way into the country!

So off I go to a Felting workshop with that most wonderful of feelings-clueless.
Yes, clueless. Meaning that I do not have a clue as to what to expect, what to do, how to do it or any preconceived idea of what is involved. I wasn't even sure what "felt" was. :-)

A collage of 7 or the 8 completed in the 6-8:30 class

A friend and I carpooled and it was probably a good thing. I am far from map illiterate-rarely use a GPS (ha ha-I am the type to first look at a map and then see if the GPS is right) so I drove in my little Honda Fit which lovingly gets close to 35 mpg (40 downhill with a back wind) and of course mapquest nor the instructor knew to tell us about the bridge out/detour. No big deal-lovely afternoon, nice drive and eventually we do reach our destination-a "Retreat" deep down  a half mile gravel driveway (this was not much more than a track) through beautiful woodlands and lo and behold, come to a charming house and cute art studio smack in the middle of Franklin Co, NC...and in essence (this is not a joke) in the middle of nowhere. One of those lovely wooded properties bought back when an access road was  the only way to buy ancient, overgrown farmland, replete with the remains of old homesteads. No fields-just lovely forest and, yes, that retreat feeling of crickets and tree frogs ...very loud tree frogs as evening approached :-).

What a cute concept by Debbie!

A lovely example by Sharon!

Anyway, we WERE in for a treat as 8 of us gathered together and our instructor (And Retreat owner), Margaret Hilpert of Cedar Cross Retreat led us through the steps. Now I had seen something on Facebook about felting a scarf and was totally baffled (and lost)  by the rolling, slapping, pounding, soaking of the wool (which is what felt is I discovered) but when actually DOING it, the procedures begin to make sense. 

I was not joking when I said rolling, pounding, kneading and eventually wadding up our creations and throwing them onto a towel on the floor. The word, "workout" comes to mind.

My efforts resulted in this tree :-)

In the photos you can see some of the results and they were lovely. Felting is an ancient art and everyone from the Mongolians to the Europeans understood the insulation qualities of felt...from yurts to felt boots, hats, wall hangings, etc. Personally, after making my small example, I would NEVER put it on the floor. LOL, in our art business no one wants to step on floor mats either (after being made and handpainted) so wiping one's feet on a work of art just isn't in my DNA.

Margaret had some beautiful examples of her work that she had later, upon finishing the felting, had embellished with additional needlework, "needling" (a cool punching in of loose fabric) yarn, glittery stuff and all manners of creativity.

Felting is considered "fiber art".  No longer a survival necessity, but a beautiful art piece for one's enjoyment. The creations seen on the Internet that artists are making are just amazing.  Supplies (just google it) for feltmaking are everywhere. In essence, it is a whole other art industry akin to jewelry making, pottery painting...Frankly I was happy to come away from the experience knowing a new, yet ancient technique for creating yet another form of beautiful art. Everyone dabbles in their chosen art field at different levels and I look forward to "playing around" with my piece when I figure out what to embellish it with...already I can envision using this new art in art journaling, perhaps in some paintings....so many options!

To learn more about where we were and who we enjoyed an evening of camaraderie, art and beautiful woodsy solitude, visit www.CedarCrossRetreat.org.

Inspired by Nature and keeping it all simple!

I am one of those artists and art journal individuals inspired by simple pleasures :-) It can be as spectacular as our recent art show location near Boone, NC or the light bouncing off a hanging basket of flowers on my front porch.

My husband absorbing the wildflowers on top of an NC Mountain

An art or travel journal is supposed to be fun! It is not all about new techniques or the latest fad.  Make your journal as creative as YOU want to make it.

There are so many magazines now out there with a gazillion "do this" to be creative articles that it is easy to be overwhelmed. Remember that most of the authors are paid to come with new ideas! Do what comes naturally and creatively to you.  If a new method or idea "despires" instead of "inspires" then
wait for another day!

Traveling light-markers, white crayon, couple of brushes and water bottle! 

Often while traveling your supplies are limited by what can be easily carried and used. Stick with the basics and keep it simple!

Organizing the art studio

Whew! I'm getting ready for a kid's summer art camp week in Sculpture and as always, getting organized in an art studio where the tables are covered with paintings heading off for the next show-this one in Blowing Rock, NC....the cool mountains! 


Organizing any studio is a lesson in discipline. Anyone can come in and organize a place but it's up to you to keep it that way. A recent article in an issue of Cloth,Paper,Scissors has a free download on studio organization for artists and there may be some fun and useful tips in it that you did not think about!

http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/free-art-studio-organization-ideas/?a=cpe120706

As charming as this photo of a studio is (above) I am a firm believer in plastic bins (well marked) and cabinets with doors. Unused chairs simply collect stuff! You can buy shelves and cabinets ready to put together at any big box store and home supply store. As a former single mom with four children, I had to rely on part of the kitchen table and used a sheet to cover up the clutter and discourage little hands from borrowing the art supplies! In fact I have a chapter in my ebook devoted just to finding space to create and store in rental homes (a given for the single moms as some point) where there is none! 

Now, be inspired to have a clutter free area to work and see if it does not make a huge difference!

skeleton keys-where to find?

It did not take the flea market crowd long to realize that old skeleton type keys were becoming very popular with the artsy crowd!

After spending a fruitless day browsing one of the larger ones in our state of NC and finding a $2.00 key (a bargain when everyone else wanted $4-7.00 per key!) I browsed the old stand by-Ebay.

It rapidly progressed from "old" and "ephemera" to 'reproduction"! And I could not be happier!

Sunsettraders on Ebay sells these reproduction and lovely skeleton keys for a fraction of the cost. 14 keys cost me $10.00. He has 21 listed for $14.00 and so on.

In my recent art journaling class retreat where I supplied everything, these were a BIG hit! Who would not want their journal to have the symbolic "key" and all it could mean somewhere within the journal or on the cover?

Thoughts such as "Key to my Heart" or "Key to my thoughts", "Key to Happiness", etc. all come to mind!

My cover below had the $2.00 key but visit other posts in this blog and you will see the reproductions in use!

example of a cover with key

Exciting Art Journal Covers!

Art Journal cover (from beginner)

 A close up of the cover of one of the participant's journal

She did an equally beautiful job on the miniature art journal made from scratch (so to speak!)

size of miniature (2.5 x 3") journal

Another participant's duo!

Continue down to see another example!

Starting a miniature art journal

Look at the beautiful results from our beginner art journalists and see if you aren't impressed? Also notice the gorgeous miniature journals they created from scratch? A few participants got away before I took photos but I will post them soon-simple a wonderful time with lots and lots of art supplies!

June 30 Ladies Art Retreat!

Hey it's tomorrow! Only two spots left for this fun opportunity to learn to start your own art journal! No men-just us ladies :-)

http://artstudentacademy.com/Ladies-Journaling-Retreat.html

Bringing in the vintage photos!

Little Victorian girl

Nothing says "Art Journal" as well as vintage elements brought together such as ephemera ads, photos, postcards and old books.

In my upcoming Art Retreat we will be using this image and many like it. I have so many sources for old images but found this one and the following two on a super blog called "freevintagedigistamps" . I will find the link again as the downloads are all free and fun to browse through!

Check out this super cool image! Can you imagine using this within one of your pages?    Or how about this enchanting young girl from another era?

You can print your images out on computer paper and incorporate them into your journal with words, art   and your imagination. Keep watching for what my students create this weekend!

Lovely Victorian era child

                                                              

Starting a Travel Journal

A page from my travel journal

Art Journaling offers the perfect venue to create, maintain and embellish a travel journal.

You simply fill a bag with your journal, travel watercolors, a small container of mat medium (or elmers glue), markers, scissors and you're good to go!

Collect postcards, maps, travel brochures,...all available at welcome centers and tourist stops, and when the time presents itself, assemble the pieces into your book!

It's a fabulous way to pass the time in the car, a motel, on the beach  (a little sand in the glue?) and create lasting memories of a road trip!

I'm off on a road trip to the coast this weekend to participate in an outdoor art show and I'll bring along my journal to work in when things are quiet!

Teen art journaling

Right now I am teaching a week long summer camp for children 8-10 and 11-15. The kids are amazing, fun, energetic and I have to add that my animals on our mini farm are so happy to have all the attention during break!
My Art camps are what I call "all inclusive." I like to take the energy level, enthusiasm and abilities of my young students and not only paint (this is a Painting Camp!) but let them experience new concepts. On top of that, let's bring in the childhood pleasure of fresh air, flowers, climbing trees, petting animals and running for the sheer pleasure of it!   See it HERE:

Art camp collage

Watch it HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECX-JNgRi70



"Serious" art can wait. The teens whom I taught all year long in my children's classes, have continued their art journaling during the summer break with beautiful results!

Maddie's journal page. Age 14

Art Journal Glitz with paint and kitchen wrap!

art journal page of 9 x 12 book

 As an artist, I have a slew of various paints and assorted art mediums sitting around. Some have sat awhile, fallen out of favor or simply not used to their potential.

It did not take me long to realize that ANYTHING can be used in art journaling! Dust off old pens, paints, markers, pastels, rummage through kitchen drawers for odds and ends.....and by all means, pull out that favorite food saver, the box of clear plastic wrap!

I had a few tubes of Turner acryl "gouache" and simply blended a few of the "pearl" colors onto the previously gessoed pages of one of my journals. ( Gouache is an ancient medium usually seen as an opaque watercolor but more recently re-invented as an acrylic gouache with much the same properties as Golden, Liquitex, etc. Beautiful colors!)

Then I crumpled up the clear wrap, pushed it onto the wet paint, let it sit about 10 minutes, then pulled it off.

The results are a beautifully textured surface, shimmery with gouache paint to which I applied purple and black markers and a few cut out phrases.

Simple, effective and oh so easy!

close up of textured surface

The Garden Art Journal

Cultivating a garden of any size, whether it's a plot of land or a patio pot, is work at some level :-). But behind that work is the promise of a reward and so we pull on the gardening gloves, bring out the trowel or shovel and commence to plant promises.

Even the most novice of gardeners takes pleasure out of the seed actually turning into something! Starting with a plant, a seedling, is one thing. But taking those tiny dry "nothings" and seeing results start after a week or so truly borders on amazing :-)

I have also taken great pleasure in recording random vignettes in my art journal. There is no order or reason to it. With a bit of watercolor, ink and  crayon, I created a page of color. No serious painting or drawing or attempt at painting what I was looking at...just the randomness of expressing what it was that I saw and felt and making swirly lines that began to look like a flower. Not a journey of anything but the fact that I felt like making a permanent image of what I was feeling.

And that is the pleasure of art journaling. Add a beautiful morning on the art studio porch, a cup of coffee and a box of assorted art supplies and allow your thoughts to simply ....expand on that journal page in front of you!

front of studio

Embellishing the art cover journal

Front cover of 5 x 8 journal

So many choices!

So a piece from one of the heavy duty, textured fabric sample books has been re-purposed for the cover of this journal and the wire binder covered with silk scraps. 
Notice the old skeleton key, picked up at a flea market for just $2.00 that adds that certain "something" to the beginning of this art book.

Now what should this key unopen? :-)

Economical papers and fabrics

Purchasing individual sheets of scrapbooking paper can be an expensive undertaking, especially when you may not be sure what to do with them yet.

A good substitute? Both wallpaper and fabric sample books from your local recycling centers, back rooms of fabric shops or Goodwill type stores. A HUGE assortment of fabric textures, colors, patinas...all available for a fraction of the cost.

When you consider one sheet of 9 x 12 paper from a retail craft store can be $4.99-9.99, investing $2-4.00 for a 20 pound book with easily 500 samples ranging in sizes from "3 x 9" to as large as 12 " x 12" sheets of paper or fabric, well the choice is clear!

My next post will show you what I did with a few of the papers and fabrics. 

What do I need to start an Art Journal?

My trip to the Scrap Exchange netted several books filled with wallpaper and fabric samples. Finds such as these can offer a huge assortment of colors, textures and opportunities to simple experiment. After all, nothing happens if you don't try it!
But  don't underestimate what is already in your home. Markers, crayons, colored pencils, poster paints are usually in the art corner or drawer of every home. Did you know that scribbling on a page with markers and then lightly brushing over it with a wet brush will cause the colors to spread and blend into a beautiful random design?

An inexpensive box of markers

 As school begins to start back (yes I know, it's hardly out) the big discount stores will offer HUGE savings on basic art supplies such as Markers, Crayons, Glue (when was the last time you paid .17 cents for a bottle of glue? Rulers, colored pencils, puff paints, craft paints....
and the all important ways to organize them all!

Check the fabric sections in the same stores for sales on ribbons and buttons, zigzag material...KEEP IT SIMPLE!
Running around and around collecting "stuff" can block your creative abilities. Just use what is there, in front of you. The rest will come in good time!

Blending colors. A super background effect!

 

Treasure hunting Recycled materials

In this general NC area, the grand recyclers of them all is a place called the Scrap Exchange located in a huge old warehouse in Durham, NC. When my children were small, we'd wander over to their original location and examine all manner of "trash" to see what we could do with it.

  
The basic concept of the Scrap Exchange is that individuals and businesses donate their outdated, old, unused (or used) scrap items to be sold to the general public and re-purposed in some way. It takes a discerning eye to wander amid the dimly lit, stacked shelves and sift through the vast array of stuff in order to find items that can be used for one's purpose!

Everything from old electronics to a million plastic "what nots" to discarded magazines, cards and envelopes, art, paper, paint, fabric, tiles, medical supplies, guts of old equipment......is available. I spent almost two hours and $40.00  collecting items such as rubber stamps, wallpaper books, corks, spools of ribbon. Oh yes, an old Atlas for my travel art journal!  If it was closer. I would check more regularly but as it is, the odd bits and pieces tend to be perfect for Art Journals  :-) 

assorted ribbon

wallpaper and fabric sample books

There is no doubt that the wallpaper and fabric sample books will be a huge source of inspiration. At just $3.00-$4.00 each with easily 75-150 one of a kind swatches, they are a bargain. I can't wait for the women coming to my Ladies Art Retreat the end of June to select from and enjoy the huge variety of materials that will be on hand.

Let's see what I can make over the weekend!

Journaling and Queen Anne's Lace

My Art Journal page

How can you not be inspired by flowers? Your garden or a friend's? 

The Queen Anne's lace is blooming  everywhere now. The warm winter meant it all came about two weeks early. In NC they bloom wild alongside what we  call "Tiger Lilies" Somehow "ditch lilies" doesn't do it for me! I let a few grow randomly in my garden and love that decision!

Both types of flowers are a fond remembrance of mine of my sister and I riding our horses down the roads and seeing these same types of wildflowers growing alongside the  road in upstate New York!

So a combination of using leaves (yanked from my grass) as a stencil, lace, paint, spray ink, markers and my trusty gel medium, transposed my vision into a fun 9 x 11 Art Journal page of a few sentences and all things Queen Anne's Lace!

It's easy to paint the flower...just blopping dabs of white paint in the general shape of the head of the flower!

The journal next to the Queen Anne's Lace in my garden

A new Journey into Art and Writing

 

Journals. I have kept them for years....written, typed, sketched.....in all formats and all the variables that come with time, where I last put it down and what I remembered or thought about. That is what makes a journal so special and individual!

Often we tend to unintentionally separate  art from writing.But, what better way to write and paint in the world of journaling than to simply become lost in the creation process!

I have SO many art supplies and some, in my art practice, become less useful as my techniques change. Ah but that is the beauty of art journaling. Nothing goes to waste!  
Oh, and all that sewing stuff tucked away here and there? What better way to randomly combine ribbon, ink, glue and paints and create an image to a thought? Join me in this journey into a creative world where there are no rules, no art critics and anything in your imagination is art!